Raptors (7-4), Pelicans (6-6)
TORONTO – The combination of Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins has been effective and consistent all season, but on Thursday the duo experienced a rare poor shooting game, while also struggling with turnovers. On some previous nights that may have spelled doom for New Orleans, but the Pelicans received quality performances from the rest of the roster. Ultimately, however, it wasn’t quite enough. Toronto pulled out a narrow victory in the final minutes, grabbing a two-possession edge on DeMar DeRozan’s mid-range fadeaway jumper with 32 seconds left.
Jrue Holiday approached a career high in scoring by dropping in 34 points, including 24 in the first half. Toronto still led 66-60 at intermission, though, due to 50 percent shooting from the field.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
New Orleans reserve Jameer Nelson missed a transition three-pointer from the right wing with the visitors down by four in the final seconds. Toronto collected the rebound near the basket, then dribbled out the clock. The Pelicans were foiled in their bid to post the first 4-0 road trip in team history, instead settling for 3-1 with victories over Dallas, Chicago and Indiana.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Prior to Thursday’s game, Alvin Gentry said he’s not concerned about Holiday’s early-season slump, that he was certain it was only a matter of time before the guard broke out of it. That may have begun in Canada, as Holiday turned in his best performance of 2017-18, shooting an efficient 14/20 from the field and compiling 34 points and 11 assists (his career high in scoring is 38). The UCLA product’s 24-point first half featured post-ups over Raptors guards, spot-up three-point shots, drives to the basket and mid-range accuracy. On a night when Cousins and Davis “only” combined for 38 points, Holiday nearly lifted the Pelicans to a road win.
QUOTES TO NOTE
“Other guys did a good job of stepping up and making their imprint on the game. If we can put that all together, we’re going to be tough to beat.” – Holiday on the Pelicans getting more support beyond Davis and Cousins, including a good shooting night from Dante Cunningham and a positive plus-minus from all three reserves who played
“Jrue played incredible tonight. It sucks that we couldn’t give him the help that he deserved tonight to pull out this win. He had a huge night. He carried us the entire night.” – Cousins on Holiday’s game
“We need him going and he got going tonight, played well. This game DeMarcus and I struggled but we were still in the game. Our other guys stepped it up and played well.” – Davis on Holiday and the rest of the squad
BY THE NUMBERS
19: Toronto points off turnovers. New Orleans’ total of 14 turnovers wasn’t bad, but the manner of some of the miscues and what they led to was frustrating to Gentry, who alluded to that stat in his postgame press conference.
10-4: Raptors advantage in offensive rebounds, which led to a 19-4 edge in second-chance points. Second-year backup center Jakob Poeltl led Toronto with four offensive boards.
53.7: New Orleans shooting percentage from the field. It’s rare to shoot that well and still lose a game in the NBA, but the Raptors won the interconference matchup by controlling other aspects of play, including grabbing more 50-50 balls, according to Gentry.