The New Orleans summer roster features two players with official NBA experience from the 2022-23 regular season, as well as a lottery pick from last month’s draft, but on Tuesday, some of the squad’s lesser-known members delivered significantly in a second straight victory. International center Karlo Matkovic played his best game so far in Las Vegas, while Baton Rouge native Frank Bartley IV and Southern Utah product Tevian Jones came off the bench to provide valuable scoring punch, helping the Pelicans secure the win. It was a one-possession game at halftime, but New Orleans outscored Phoenix by a 43-37 count in the final 20 minutes.
Matkovic started quickly for New Orleans offensively and finished with 13 points and three blocks; Jones registered a team-best 16 points, highlighted by 3/6 three-point shooting. A University of Louisiana product, Bartley went 2/3 from deep and added 10 points in a reserve role.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Jones threw down an alley oop dunk off a feed from Dyson Daniels on a fast break, giving New Orleans its biggest lead of the evening at 81-68 with just over two minutes remaining. Dereon Seabron – he and Daniels played for the big-league Pelicans last season – also stretched the Pelicans’ edge in the final period by throwing down a pair of slams.
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PLAYERS TO WATCH
For each game in Las Vegas, members of our broadcast crew will select one player apiece to keep a close on during the action. A quick look at how the choices from (in order) Gus Kattengell, Erin Summers, Jim Eichenhofer and fans (via Twitter poll) fared Tuesday vs. Phoenix:
EJ Liddell
As part of his rehabilitation plan from an ACL injury in 2022 summer league, the Ohio State product was a DNP on Tuesday, but is expected to return to game action Thursday vs. Charlotte. The Pelicans may still have a mathematical chance to qualify for the league’s tournament semifinals entering that matchup against the Hornets.
Jordan Hawkins
Shots are not dropping at the moment for the elite shooter and 2023 NCAA champion from UConn. The No. 14 overall pick in last month's draft was 1/12 from the field and 1/6 on threes, but chipped in six rebounds, two assists and two steals. The Pelicans were still plus-9 with him on the floor in his 28 minutes.
Dereon Seabron
Based on his previous-game parade to the charity stripe, Phoenix’s defense did a commendable job by limiting the N.C. State product to just three attempts from the foul line. Still, Seabron was a key factor down the stretch and totaled 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Dyson Daniels (85 percent of fan vote)
The second-year NBA guard’s approach was much more like the way he played during the 2022-23 NBA season, with him not taking as many shots from the field as he had in the previous two summer games. Daniels shot 4/8 on Tuesday and only fired twice from beyond the arc in his 10-point game. The Australian handed out eight of the team’s 19 assists and blocked three Phoenix shots.