Bulls (1-0), Pelicans (0-1)
New Orleans will spend much of preseason fine-tuning and tweaking a few details as the regular season approaches, but the Pelicans’ star big-man duo already looks ready. Four-time All-Star Anthony Davis and three-time All-Star DeMarcus Cousins rolled to 20 points apiece in the first half Tuesday vs. rebuilding Chicago, part of their team’s 69-point half. Davis and Cousins feasted on layups and trips to the foul line, overpowering the Bulls around the basket.
Chicago reversed the momentum in the second half, relying on a large number of three-pointers to erase what been a double-digit deficit.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Chicago’s Jarell Eddie beat the shot-clock buzzer and sank a wing three-pointer with 7.5 seconds left, giving the Bulls a two-possession edge at 113-109.
PELICANS PLAYER UPDATES
Davis finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds, with his offense highlighted by 11/14 foul shooting. Cousins delivered similarly, with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 7/9 accuracy at the foul line. They both played 33 minutes. …
If you’re trying to guess what the Pelicans’ rotation might be in the regular season, during the first half Tuesday, New Orleans only used four reserves: E’Twaun Moore, Cheick Diallo, Darius Miller and Ian Clark. However, keep in mind that Alvin Gentry mentioned during pregame that some players might get DNPs who will play a decent amount in the next preseason game, and vice versa. Some who played a lot Tuesday may get less minutes Friday at Oklahoma City. …
Moore excelled off the bench, going 4/6 from three-point range and tallying 16 points in 21 minutes.
QUOTES TO NOTE
“I thought we got off to a good start. We were playing with force, pushing the basketball, moving the basketball, getting easy baskets here and there. Realistically, we’re not going to shoot 73 percent for the game (as the Pelicans did early). I thought we started overdribbling and that got us into trouble. We stopped making cuts, which slowed down the offense. Our transition defense wasn’t good and we were scrambling too much (to find Chicago shooters).” – Gentry on the game changing after the opening quarter
“Communication is a big part of what we have to get better at. The first quarter we were talking pretty well, then after that it kind of went down a little bit. We have to watch the film and see some of the breakdowns we had. They got a lot of open threes – we’ve got to see how (the Bulls) got them.” – Davis on the Pelicans’ defense
BY THE NUMBERS
16/35: Chicago three-point shooting, led by reserve Denzel Valentine shooting 4/7. New Orleans shot 10/32.
25/32: New Orleans shooting from the foul line, with Cousins and Davis combining to go 18/23.