Pelicans (1-0), Rockets (0-1)
HOUSTON – For nearly the entire night, Nikola Mirotic couldn’t miss from the three-point arc. Anthony Davis was flying over the Houston defense for dunks. New Orleans native Elfrid Payton notched a triple-double in his very first game with his hometown NBA franchise.
Good news came in ample doses Wednesday for the Pelicans, who dominated the Rockets on opening night. New Orleans led wire-to-wire, building a 29-point lead in the third quarter, en route to sending Houston fans home to catch the rest of the Astros’ ALCS game.
On national TV, New Orleans used an old-school approach to overwhelm a team that went an NBA-best 65-17 last season, repeatedly getting the ball to Davis, Mirotic and fellow big Julius Randle in size mismatches. At the other end of the floor, the Rockets relied heavily on their usual strategy of launching a ton of three-pointers, but shot only 16/48 from beyond the arc.
Davis, Mirotic and Randle combined to score 87 points, with each player contributing at least 25 points. They shot 33/56 from the field.
Asked if this was the right way to start the 82-game season, Davis responded, “One-hundred percent. Just the way we moved the basketball, and we made shots. But we hung our hats on defending. We did a good job of making them feel uncomfortable and making them take tough shots that we can live with. To come out with a win against a team like this, coming off the season they had, and coming off the season we had, we wanted to set the (tone) for ourselves.”
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Mirotic (30 points) picked up a loose ball and quickly fired in a wing three-pointer, making him a perfect 6/6 on treys, to put New Orleans up 100-74 late in the third quarter. Mirotic later misfired on a heat-check trifecta, his first miss from deep in seven attempts.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Davis has authored some memorable performances in season openers as a pro, including a 50-point game vs. Denver, but this probably was the most satisfying Game 1 of his career, given the utter domination by his team on the road. Davis rolled to 32 points, 16 rebounds, a career-best eight assists and three blocks. He often used his 6-foot-11 frame and long arms to methodically go to work vs. Houston in the paint, taking his time to shoot over defenders or spin around a Rocket for an alley-oop dunk.
Davis was pleased after the game about the formidable frontcourt trio he’s forming with Mirotic and Randle, describing the feeling of seeing all three players perform so well as “amazing. The way Niko was able to shoot the ball. Julius was able to push (the ball on fast breaks) and rebound, get in the paint and dominate. It feels good to have all those guys who want to win and want to be here.”
POSITIONAL FOCUS: POINT GUARD
No one could’ve drawn up a better New Orleans debut for Payton. The native of Gretna – which is located across the Mississippi River from downtown NOLA – became the 22nd player in NBA history to record a triple-double in his first game with a new team. Payton finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, adding a steal and only committing one turnover. He set an early tone by driving through the Houston defense for easy baskets, including a gliding two-hand dunk in the first half. At the other end, Payton and Jrue Holiday helped hold Houston’s Hall of Fame-bound backcourt duo of James Harden and Chris Paul to 12/27 shooting and only 37 total points.
Interestingly, the Pelicans did not use any backup that could be described as a point guard, with all of the reserve minutes in the meat of the game going to Randle, Darius Miller and Solomon Hill. With less than two minutes remaining and the outcome decided, Frank Jackson made his official NBA debut. Ian Clark, who was a vital reserve last season and will likely play some minutes at second-string point guard in 2018-19, did not play Wednesday by coach's decision.
BY THE NUMBERS
76-44: New Orleans advantage in points in the paint.
14-8: Pelicans edge in offensive rebounds. New Orleans was a bottom-tier offensive rebounding team last season, but that may be in the rearview mirror. Mirotic pulled down seven O-boards, while Davis and Randle each delivered two.
4: Quarters in which New Orleans scored at least 30 points. The visitors quieted the Toyota Center crowd quickly by building a 71-54 halftime lead.