All of a sudden, New Orleans is playing some of the stingiest, most aggressive defense in the NBA. As a result, the wins are starting to come – even against some of the league’s premier teams. Three days after stunning Denver on the Nuggets’ home floor in a Christmas matchup, the Pelicans knocked off another opponent that was 10-plus games over .500 Saturday, putting the clamps on Indiana’s offense in the final three quarters.
Since losing a heartbreaking overtime game to Brooklyn on Dec. 17, New Orleans has gone 4-1, including road victories at Minnesota, Portland and the aforementioned Denver. The Pelicans will try to make it a season-high four-game winning streak Sunday at home vs. Houston (7 p.m.).
New Orleans trailed 32-19 after one quarter, but dominated the final three stanzas by a 101-66 count.
“We just have a sense of urgency on the defensive end,” said Brandon Ingram (team-high 24 points) on postgame radio. “It’s been pretty good the last four or five games, following the game plan and following the scheme on the board, coming out here and executing.”
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
New Orleans kept repeatedly beating Indiana to the ball on a Pelicans possession, with the end result being E’Twaun Moore canning a three-pointer from the left corner, making it 101-76 with 7:31 left, the team’s largest in-game lead of the entire 2019-20 season. The Pelicans grabbed multiple offensive rebounds and seemed to outhustle the Pacers for an extended stretch of the second half. Indiana was playing in the second game of a back-to-back, having lost by a point at Miami on Friday.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Playing against his two brothers, Justin and Aaron, Jrue Holiday was the best sibling on the court Saturday, finishing with 20 points in 29 minutes (though Aaron dropped in 25 points for the Pacers). Jrue personified the night for New Orleans, because he scored just two points in the first quarter, but was excellent after that, dropping in six points in the second quarter and 12 more in the third. The Pelicans won those middle quarters by an overwhelming 67-36 margin. Holiday also compiled seven assists.
BY THE NUMBERS
6/28: Indiana three-point shooting, yet again a rough evening for New Orleans’ opponent beyond the arc.
18/42: New Orleans three-point shooting, led by Lonzo Ball’s four makes and three apiece by JJ Redick and E’Twaun Moore.
49-46: Pelicans rebounding advantage, paced by Derrick Favors’ double of 16 rebounds and 10 points.
1: New Orleans two-point basket in the first quarter. In the game-changing third quarter, the Pelicans tallied 10 two-pointers, as well as six three-pointers, to account for a 38-23 edge.
#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 E’Twaun Moore, while Jim Eichenhofer took Derrick Favors. In a fan poll among four other candidates, Lonzo Ball was chosen. The seventh Saturday contest was won by the fans, with Ball’s 13 points (10.1 ppg) giving him an extremely narrow edge over Moore (11 points, 9.2 ppg) and Favors (10 points, 8.0 ppg), making the season standings: Daniel 3, Jim 2, Fans 2. Sallerson and Eichenhofer could not repeat a player among any of the first seven Saturday games.
Recent winners:
Nov. 16 at Miami, Jim – E’Twaun Moore (Daniel: Frank Jackson; Fans: Jrue Holiday)
Nov. 23 at Utah, Daniel – Jrue Holiday (Jim: Frank Jackson; Fans: JJ Redick)
Dec. 7 at Dallas, Jim – Jaxson Hayes (Daniel: Lonzo Ball; Fans: Brandon Ingram)