Pelicans (10-8), Spurs (11-7)
Over the years, San Antonio has administered its share of one-sided drubbings over New Orleans, particularly in the AT&T Center. On Wednesday, it was the Pelicans’ chance to turn the tables. After trailing 17-2 in the game’s first few minutes, New Orleans dominated San Antonio, outscoring the Spurs 80-40 over the next two-plus quarters to go up by 25. The lead later ballooned to 30 in what became one of the most lopsided wins in franchise history against a team that’s won five NBA titles since the late 1990s.
New Orleans capped a fantastic 2-0 homestand that featured come-from-behind victories over two teams that were expected to finish in the top four of the Western Conference, Oklahoma City and San Antonio. The Pelicans next hit the road this weekend for a back-to-back at Phoenix and Golden State.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Darius Miller found Jrue Holiday on the left wing for a wide-open three-pointer, which Holiday sank to give New Orleans an 80-55 lead with about two minutes remaining in the third quarter. As is his custom during blowouts, San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich started subbing in deep reserves shortly thereafter, acknowledging that it was not the Spurs’ night.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
On a fourth-quarter floater in the lane, Davis moved ahead of Chris Paul as the second-leading scorer in New Orleans franchise history. Davis tallied 29 points, pushing him to a career tally of 7,938. Davis was efficient offensively, shooting 11/17 from the field. The Pelicans were plus-33 with him on the floor. He combined with DeMarcus Cousins to pile up 53 points and 26 rebounds.
QUOTES TO NOTE
“Defense. We just buckled down on defense and got some big stops. Our offense started clicking. To get a win against a team like this, a convincing win, is huge for us. We’ve just got to keep it going.” – Davis on the keys to beating San Antonio
“What we do know is it’s a long game. Even when we do get in holes, we’ve just got to continue pushing and fighting. It’s a long game.” – Cousins on not being swayed by falling behind in first quarters of games recently
“We were great defensively. We were on a string, our rotations were pretty good, our helpside was good. Just a solid effort all-around.” – Cousins on New Orleans holding the Spurs to 38.8 percent shooting from the field.
BY THE NUMBERS
68-30: New Orleans scoring advantage in the middle quarters, including 31-13 in the second and 37-17 in the third.
5: Zatarain’s is donating meals to the Second Harvest Food Bank for every Pelicans dunk at home games this season. New Orleans threw down five vs. San Antonio. The Pelicans’ streak of shooting over 50 percent from the field ended Wednesday, but they came close at 48.1, partly due to getting point-blank attempts.
25: Biggest margin of victory for New Orleans in team history over San Antonio, a 100-75 final during the 2007-08 regular season, which happens to be the best for the franchise (56-26 record, trip to West semifinals).