New Orleans has played numerous games with a short-handed lineup this season, but Friday’s tilt vs. Toronto was an extreme case. When Elfrid Payton (finger) went to the locker room for a portion of the first half, the Pelicans were playing without four of their top five scorers in 2018-19, a group Jrue Holiday joined Friday due to an abdominal strain.
Although New Orleans fought hard and was competitive for the first 24 minutes, a deep and talented Toronto team with NBA Finals aspirations eventually wore down the hosts. The Eastern Conference’s second-best squad record-wise tallied at least 29 points in every period, eventually building a lead of 26 points.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Jeremy Lin and Kyle Lowry nailed consecutive three-pointers midway through the fourth period, stretching an already sizeable Toronto lead to 111-90 with 6:20 remaining. The Raptors only led by three at halftime – also their biggest lead of the opening half – but used a 29-19 edge in the third period to gain a cushion for the first time.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
In his customary role coming off the bench, Cheick Diallo posted another double-double, finishing with 16 points and 12 rebounds, despite only logging 23 minutes. Since the All-Star break, the third-year big has been extremely efficient, going 43/63 from the field, further expanding his aggressiveness on offense with an 8/15 night vs. Toronto.
FOCUS ON: COMPETING UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES
Alvin Gentry noted after Friday’s loss that regardless of the team’s personnel situation based on injuries, he expects his players to compete in every situation, including when facing one of the NBA’s premier teams.
“I still think we competed and to me, that’s the most important thing,” Gentry said. “If we put five guys out there, we expect them to play hard and compete really hard. That’s what we’re getting. With the situation of obviously not having Jrue out there, (Anthony Davis) didn’t play tonight, not having E’Twaun (Moore), I still thought we competed at a high level.”
Toronto presented an array of challenges, such as New Orleans rookie Kenrich Williams having to defend against versatile and skilled Kawhi Leonard; the Pelicans’ frontcourt matching up with savvy veteran center Marc Gasol; and Most Improved Player candidate Pascal Siakam, who ran past everyone repeatedly for easy baskets. The Raptors piled up 53 fast-break points.
“They are really, really good,” Gentry said of Toronto. “That was the big difference in the game. They just outran us. You get 53 points in transition, you’re not going to lose, I don’t care who you are playing. We had to do a lot better job of getting back. I thought when we got back and got them (into a) set (offense), we did a pretty good job in our halfcourt defense. Most of (the transition scores) were wide-open shots or at the basket.”
In addition to Diallo, rookie Frank Jackson (20 points, second-best scoring game of career despite 1 of 8 on threes) was a bright spot for New Orleans.
“You can see Frank is going to be fine,” Gentry said. “He still continues to improve in all areas. I thought he was a little short on his shots, didn’t quite get his legs into them, but he shot them with confidence. That’s the big thing for us. The minutes Jahlil (Okafor) played, you can see he can still be a force we can throw the ball to on the inside and do some things. Every time Cheick gets into the mid-20s in minutes, he usually has double-figure points, double-figure rebounds. Those were all positive things.”
BY THE NUMBERS
21/32: Toronto shooting in fast-break situations. The 53 points by the Raptors in transition was the most the Pelicans have allowed in any game this season.
63-43: Toronto second-half scoring advantage.
54.1: Raptors shooting percentage from the field. Leonard went 14/20 and scored 31 points.