Pelicans (6-5), Pacers (5-6)
INDIANAPOLIS – When missed free throws decide the outcome of games, it’s usually a bad thing. On Tuesday, New Orleans managed to turn misfired foul shots into the biggest positive plays of the night.
With the Pelicans holding a two-point lead, Anthony Davis soared into traffic and pulled down an offensive board after a Jrue Holiday missed free throw, then called timeout with 18 seconds left. Holiday sank a subsequent free throw for a three-point edge but missed the second; DeMarcus Cousins tipped in the rebound to make it 117-112 with only 15 seconds remaining.
The New Orleans All-Star bigs capped huge nights with their game-deciding board work; Davis piled up 37 points and 14 rebounds, while Cousins mustered 32 points and 13 rebounds.
Indiana dominated the first half and led 75-61 at intermission, but New Orleans managed to rally from that 14-point deficit and secure a third consecutive road victory on the same trip. It is the Pelicans’ longest road winning streak since December 2013 that was not separated by home games in between victories.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Scrambling Indiana was unable to convert on a score in the final few seconds trailing by five, allowing New Orleans to dribble out the clock and celebrate a 3-0 start to this four-game road trip.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
There were numerous statistics that demonstrated the excellence of Davis and Cousins on Tuesday, but one of the most unique was this: the last Indiana opponent to post a stat line of at least 32 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and two blocks had been Karl Malone in 2002. Fifteen years later, Davis and Cousins managed to both do it against the Pacers on the same night. Both perennial All-Stars spearheaded the second-half New Orleans rally by scoring 20 points apiece, doing offensive damage in a variety of ways. Davis equaled his career high by sinking four three-pointers; Cousins also knocked down four treys, including three during a momentum-changing third quarter.
QUOTES TO NOTE
“Opportunities. It was also kind of the bounce of the ball. Sometimes you just get lucky. I can’t really sit here and say I had some type of skill to get it. Sometimes the ball just bounces your way.” – Cousins on his perspective of his decisive tip-in score off a Holiday missed free throw. Replays showed the ball may have been partially deflected into the basket by Indiana
“Just wanting it more… just wanted to come up with the win and make some big plays at the end.” – Davis on what motivated him to collect his critical offensive rebound in the final 20 seconds
“That’s exactly what they were – hustle plays. The last one (Cousins’ tip-in basket) that went in was big, because it makes it a two-possession game and changes everything.” – Alvin Gentry on Davis and Cousins delivering win-sealing rebounds
“We’re not a team that quits. And I love this about this team, no matter how much adversity hits, we keep fighting. I think that will take us a long way.” – Cousins on the Pelicans coming back to win on the road for a second straight game
“We just came out strong with a lot of defensive pressure and tenacity. When we do that, it’s tough for teams to try to score. We’ve just got to do that for 48 minutes, and not 24. We’re happy we got this win. We did what we had to do to get it in the second half, but to be a good team, we know we have to do it for the whole 48.” – Davis on the major turnaround in the second half
BY THE NUMBERS
56-37: New Orleans scoring edge in the second half. The Pacers were limited to just 30.4 percent shooting from the field, including a dreadful 10/34 on two-pointers.
29: Bench points for the Pelicans, led by 12 from Darius Miller (3/5 on treys) and 10 by Jameer Nelson. Nelson and Tony Allen (24 minutes) provided veteran savvy late to help pull out the win.
14/35: Pelicans three-point shooting, which is 40 percent accuracy. New Orleans came up with a timely perimeter performance after two bad ones to start the road trip in Dallas and Chicago.