HOUSTON – Only three games into the season, New Orleans was already without two-fifths of its planned starting lineup Saturday, after Jrue Holiday was ruled out due to a left knee sprain, joining Zion Williamson on the inactive list. The Pelicans still remained competitive in a tough road matchup with Houston, but it ended up being a similar refrain to their previous two games, resulting in a narrow defeat. New Orleans lost in OT to Toronto, by seven points to Dallas and three to Houston.
“I think we’re getting better every game,” guard Lonzo Ball said of Week 1 for the Pelicans. “(Now) it’s about closing them out. We put ourselves in position to win every game. It comes down to the little things: rebounding, loose balls, turnovers, fouling (too much).”
Guard Josh Hart noted that Toronto and Houston are “definitely” playoff teams, so it was encouraging for New Orleans to play them tough, especially while missing key players, but the Pelicans need to do some things better to crack the win column.
“It’s frustrating. We are 0-3, but I think we could easily be 3-0,” Hart said. “We can see how good of a team we can be, we just have to make sure we focus and execute, stop (hurting) ourselves (with mistakes).”
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Hart’s off-balance three-pointer at the buzzer from the left wing hit the back of the rim, allowing Houston to prevail by three. Hart earlier made a huge trey from near the same spot on the left side of the floor, cutting the Rockets’ lead in half.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Brandon Ingram played one of the best offensive games of his NBA career, approaching his high as a pro (36 points) by dropping in 35 points, doing so on outstanding efficiency. Ingram connected on 14 of his 22 shots from the field, featuring 4/7 three-point accuracy. He also pulled down 15 rebounds. It was a very good night for all three former Lakers who arrived in New Orleans this summer via trade, with Ball going for 18 points and 10 assists, while Hart registered 23 points and sank five three-pointers.
“It’s what I expected,” Ball said of Ingram’s Saturday performance and hot offensive start to the season (average of 27.3 ppg). “I know what he’s capable of. He’s very hard to guard.”
BY THE NUMBERS
50: New Orleans three-point attempts, making 18. The Pelicans coincidentally also shot exactly 50 two-point attempts and made 28. In other words, they tallied 54 points on treys and 56 on twos.
2/18: James Harden’s three-point shooting, part of his 8/29 night overall. Alvin Gentry and teammates credited Hart with playing stingy defense against the former league MVP.
30-16: Houston advantage in attempts at the foul line. The Pelicans have lost this category 94-51 combined in their first three games.
#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 selected Nickeil Alexander-Walker, while Jim Eichenhofer picked JJ Redick. In a fan poll among four other candidates, Lonzo Ball was chosen. The winner of the first “contest” was the fans, whose support of Ball was rewarded in his 18-point performance (Ball came in averaging 11.5 ppg). Sallerson and Eichenhofer cannot repeat a player among any of the first seven Saturday games.