Dylan Harper crushed the hearts of all Pelicans fans at the Smoothie King Center on Monday night with his game-winning layup in the Spurs’ 134-131 victory. It was a bit ironic that Harper was the one to take the dagger, because at one point last season, many fans believed he could have been a Pelican if the draft lottery had gone their way.
Of all the Pelicans’ 22 losses this season, this one was absolutely painful at this point, because losing in the clutch always sucks. But looking at the bigger picture, it was an encouraging loss.
At one point San Antonio was up by 25, and the Pelicans clawed and fought their way back in this game, even taking a 132-131 lead with 30 seconds left. All season long this team has taken the third quarter off, but they flipped that script by outscoring the Spurs 45-23 in the third.
Rookie big man Derik Queen led this charge as he recorded his first career triple-double, with 33 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. Once Queen found its rhythm in running the offense, it was complete disrupted San Antonio’s defense. When the Spurs started double-teaming him, Queen consistently made the right reads and punished them by finding open teammates.
This game also reminded us of the importance of Herb Jones
Even though the Pelicans as a team gave up 134 points, the eye test showed how impactful Jones is for this team. During his eight-game absence, New Orleans didn’t have a guy they could trust to consistently stop the ball or generate turnovers.
The Pelicans forced 13 Spurs turnovers and recorded eight steals and seven blocks, with Jones’ presence being the main reason for that. He was also responsible for half of the team’s steals and one of the team’s seven blocks.
He also had the defensive highlight of the game, stealing the ball less than two minutes to play, leading to a transition alley-oop for Trey Murphy III, bringing the Pels within two points of tying, 129-127.
Jones was also impressive offensively, perhaps his best attacking performance of the season despite shooting 0/3 from three. He finished the game with 16 points on an efficient 60 percent from the field, along with six rebounds and four assists.
Also a special shoutout to Trey Murphy III, who had a tough first half shooting just 4/11 from the field, but scored 23 points in the second half on 9/10 shooting.
#Harper #breaks #hearts #Pelicans #Orleans #shows #real #fight