Jazz (12-11), Pelicans (11-11)
SALT LAKE CITY – For a second straight game, but for a very different reason, New Orleans lost four-time All-Star forward Anthony Davis during the middle of a contest against a Western Conference foe. Two nights after Davis was ejected for the first time in his six-year NBA career, on Friday he departed early in the fourth quarter due to a left groin injury. He was initially listed as doubtful to return to the game, and never made it back on the floor of what had been a four-point game when he exited.
As was the case for Minnesota against New Orleans on Wednesday, Utah took immediate advantage, going on a 7-0 run to turn a four-point deficit into a three-point lead. Though New Orleans withstood that and later took a lead with five-plus minutes remaining in regulation, Utah responded with numerous big plays down the stretch to prevail.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Utah picked off a bad New Orleans pass, then Joe Ingles fed Alec Burks for a fast-break layup that put the Jazz up 112-103 with about 30 seconds remaining. Burks’ bucket capped a fourth-quarter Utah surge that resulted in its fifth consecutive victory. The oft-injured Burks showed what he can do when healthy Friday, repeatedly hurting the Pelicans’ defense and finishing with 24 points. Jazz rookie Donovan Mitchell poured in 41 points, including six three-pointers.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
E’Twaun Moore was a positive for New Orleans in both halves, dropping in 10 points prior to intermission to help the visitors go up 55-43 at the break. Moore’s final line consisted of 18 points on efficient 7/11 shooting, including 4/6 accuracy from three-point range. On the season, Moore is now over 50 percent from the field – excellent for a shooting guard/small forward who gets many looks from the perimeter – and a sliver under 40 percent on three-pointers.
QUOTES TO NOTE
“He’s got a strained groin. He’ll have an MRI tomorrow in Portland. It’s very unlikely that he’ll play in Portland.” – Alvin Gentry on Davis’ status
“Well, it happens all the time in this league and you’ve just got to continue to play. You know, it doesn’t matter who goes down, we had a chance to win the game so that’s where you have to have everyone step up and play a little better than they did.” – Gentry on reacting to Davis being injured and out for the rest of the game
“You hate to see a teammate go down. We’re all athletes in this game, and one thing we can all agree on is we hate injuries. I don’t think any guy wants to see anybody go down. It can kind of mess with you mentally. You’ve got to kind of block that out. The next guy has to step up and fill that void.” – DeMarcus Cousins on Davis’ injury
BY THE NUMBERS
15/30: Pelicans three-point shooting. That excellent night from deep made the loss more frustrating for New Orleans. It’s not often you make 50 percent of your threes on the road in the NBA. Moore and Darius Miller each drained four trifectas.
9/15: New Orleans foul shooting. On many nights, Davis and Cousins alone generate more trips than that to the foul line, but the Pelicans did much more spotting up for jumpers Friday than aggressively driving to the hoop. Utah won points in the paint 48-38.
71: Utah second-half points, enabling the Jazz to outscore the Pelicans by 18 after the guests went up by a dozen points by halftime.