The New Orleans Pelicans turned some good defense, and scoring performances of 20 points or more by four different players, into a win over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies, beating them 106-95.
Memphis came into the game ranked third in the Western Conference, and had won four of their last six.
“Yeah, we beat a really good team, Western Conference and all that stuff is really good for us,” said Pelicans head coach Monty Williams after the game. “Obviously you win at home and you keep talking about making this a special place. I like the fact that we went with our defense besides that third quarter. We played really good defense against an efficient offensive team, a playoff tested team, and a team that beat us on their floor.”
It also marked the arrival of a newly-confident Eric Gordon, sidelined for much of this season with a shoulder injury. In his third game back on the floor Gordon revealed himself to be a newly-judicious shot-taker, scoring 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including three from behind the 3-point arc.
All three of Gordon’s 3-pointers were in the third quarter, helping the Pelicans squeak out of the period with just a 2-point deficit, but still the overall lead. The teams combined to score 62 points in the quarter.
Jrue Holiday, the consummate showman, finished with 23 points, leading all scorers. Holiday also had 2 steals and 8 assists, including one to Anthony Davis at the 7:57 mark of the third quarter that Davis delivered with his customary panache: as a driving slam dunk that drew roars of approval from the sellout crowd.
Anthony Davis is a radical reimagining of the abilities of a basketball player.
Davis scored 20 points on 43.8 percent shooting and a perfect 6 from the free throw line, a regression to the mean from impossible to incredible that belies his terrific defensive contributions — including 7 defensive rebounds and 3 blocked shots.
Davis, a radical reimagining of the abilities of a basketball player, strikes terror into the hearts of men still running last year’s NBA.
At the 7:36 mark of the fourth quarter, Davis attempted to make a slow pass to Tyreke Evans. Memphis’ Tony Allen, who had three steals on the night, jumped the pass and clearly thought he had a clear, solo jaunt down the court for a layup.
Allen realizes Davis has somehow recovered from the steal and has run him down on the court right about as he’s going to jump into his layup. Then Davis is in front of him, all hands, and Allen is all out of room.
It will be forever recorded in the voluminous recordkeeping of the NBA as a miss. Maybe a new stat has to be invented for Anthony Davis.
Charity Stripe
The Pelicans filled the lane and forced the clearly frustrated Grizzlies to foul them. New Orleans made 22 of 26 free throws: Anthony Davis shot a perfect six-for-six, and Tyreke Evans made seven of 10 attempts.
Omer Asik got into foul trouble tonight, at one point forcing Monty Williams to pull him. Asik ended the night with 5 fouls, three of them in the fourth quarter.
Next
The Pelicans have morning practice Saturday and Sunday, and then will travel to Boston to face the Celtics on Monday.
This story has been updated.
