MIAMI – OK, now this is getting out of hand.
New Orleans entered Saturday’s game with an injury list featuring seven names, including five of the team’s top seven scorers – and that latter group doesn’t even include No. 1 overall draft pick Zion Williamson. By halftime in South Florida, there were two more additions to the group of injured Pelicans, as Frank Jackson (left neck contusion) and Derrick Favors (lower back spasms) were forced to exit. As a result, New Orleans actually had more injured players (nine) than players available (eight) to Alvin Gentry.
The remaining eight Pelicans put up a fight for much of Saturday’s interconference matchup, but it wasn’t enough to secure a victory in South Florida. Miami held the lead for a majority of the game, benefiting from New Orleans struggling to keep up offensively, given all of its missing firepower.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Miami reserve Kelly Olynyk drilled a three-pointer to give the hosts a 15-point edge with four-plus minutes remaining. Heat rookie Kendrick Nunn followed that up with a three of his own, putting his team over the century mark at 101-86.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
New Orleans rookie guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker busted out in a big way, easily surpassing his career high in scoring by depositing 27 points, highlighted by 6/9 three-point shooting. The first-round pick from Virginia Tech poured in 13 points in the second quarter alone, helping New Orleans get back in the hunt and only trail 54-49 at intermission.
“You never want guys to go down (to injury),” Alexander-Walker said of the opportunity. “I pray that all my teammates come back healthy, so that we can try to turn it around. But at the same time, when your name is called, you have to step up. I’ve been learning that’s part of being a pro. When my name was called, I felt like it was needed for me to be aggressive, and that’s what I tried to do.”
BY THE NUMBERS
35/57: Miami shooting from two-point range. The Heat led points in the paint by a 60-42 margin.
21/47: New Orleans shooting from two-point range. Sometimes when a rate is this low, it’s because the opposing team blocked a bunch of shots, but Miami only had three rejections, all by Bam Adebayo.
40, 39: Minutes played by Pelicans starting forwards E’Twaun Moore and Kenrich Williams, respectively, necessitated by injury DNPs.
#SATURDAYSCORER
For all 14 Saturday games throughout New Orleans’ regular season, we’ll be selecting a Pelicans player we think will most exceed his season scoring average for that day’s game. Daniel Sallerson picked Frank Jackson, while Jim Eichenhofer took E’Twaun Moore. In a fan poll among four other candidates, Jrue Holiday was chosen (with 42 percent of votes).
The fourth Saturday contest was won by Eichenhofer (Moore exactly doubled his previous season scoring average of 9.0 by notching 18 points), making the season standings: Daniel 2, Jim 1, Fans 1. Sallerson and Eichenhofer cannot repeat a player among any of the first seven Saturday games.
Previous winners:
Oct. 26 at Houston, Fans – Lonzo Ball (Daniel pick: Nickeil Alexander-Walker; Jim: JJ Redick)
Nov. 2 at Oklahoma City, Daniel – JJ Redick (Fans: Lonzo Ball; Jim: Jrue Holiday)
Nov. 9 at Charlotte, Daniel – Kenrich Williams (Fans: Jrue Holiday; Jim: Brandon Ingram)