Star in your role. That’s been a reoccurring message from Willie Green since training camp, one that Nickeil Alexander-Walker personified Tuesday in one of New Orleans’ more important wins this season. Alexander-Walker, who was moved to a reserve role in November after starting early in 2021-22, delivered his most impactful performance of the campaign, changing the momentum in the Pelicans’ favor with a fourth-quarter scoring barrage.
The third-year guard scored 15 straight New Orleans points and sank five three-pointers in the fourth period alone, lifting the hosts to a victory over the Western Conference’s 10th-place team. Despite a 3-16 record to open the season, the Pelicans are now just two games out of the final play-in tournament spot in the West.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Portland’s Damian Lillard was whistled for a technical foul with 2:12 remaining and New Orleans up 104-95. Brandon Ingram missed the free throw, but Josh Hart tacked on a pair of foul shots for a double-digit advantage. Lillard was later ejected for picking up a second tech, which resulted in Alexander-Walker scoring his 18th point of the fourth quarter.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Alexander-Walker’s 27-point night and 18-point final period meant New Orleans didn’t have to sweat out the final few minutes, as was the case last week in a dramatic victory at Oklahoma City, followed by an overtime thriller against Milwaukee. One of the best aspects of the Virginia Tech product’s performance was that he didn’t require a lot of shots to generate his offense, going 10/16 from the field and 6/9 on threes. He credited head coach Willie Green and assistant coach Teresa Weatherspoon with helping to keep him positive amid some up-and-down shooting nights.
BY THE NUMBERS
52.5: New Orleans shooting percentage from the field. Alexander-Walker and Ingram were a combined 22/38, leading the club’s 42/80 night. Willy Hernangomez went 5/6.
15/18: New Orleans foul shooting. Ingram uncharacteristically missed three in the fourth quarter, but the Pelicans were in good shape by then on the scoreboard.
44-31: New Orleans rebounding advantage. Pelicans starters had 32 boards by themselves.
REVISITING FANDUEL KEYS TO THE GAME
TE’ TREYS
Devonte’ Graham didn’t need to get hot from three-point range this time, with New Orleans riding Alexander-Walker’s perimeter prowess instead to a third straight victory. Still, Graham is shooting 15/28 from three over the past three games, after going 2/6 vs. Portland.
LIMIT LILLARD
This did not go well for the Pelicans, with Lillard draining shots from all over and scoring 22 first-half points. He did not let up much after intermission either, tacking on 17 more points, but didn’t get enough help from other sources.
MATCHUP TO WATCH
Josh Hart and Portland wing Norman Powell have been two of the league’s more underrated contributors early in 2021-22. They were both big again Tuesday, with Hart going for 20-5-5 and Powell supplying 16 needed points, particularly with longtime Lillard backcourt partner C.J. McCollum sidelined by injury for the Trail Blazers. Hart set an aggressive tone in the first half with a series of hard-charging layups.
#PELSPOTWPOLL
For the second time in less than a month, Graham sank a game-winning three-pointer and was voted by fans on Twitter as the team’s Player of the Week, garnering 55 percent of ballots to earn the Week 9 honor. In this case it was a 61-foot miracle at Oklahoma City that banked in at the buzzer to beat the Thunder by three points. Graham enjoyed an excellent week overall, going 13/22 from three-point range in wins over OKC and Milwaukee (a third game at Philadelphia was postponed Sunday). Previous weekly winners were Week 1: Brandon Ingram; Week 2: Jonas Valanciunas; Week 3: Jonas Valanciunas; Week 4: Jonas Valanciunas; Week 5: Jonas Valanciunas; Week 6: Devonte’ Graham; Week 7: Brandon Ingram; Week 8: Brandon Ingram