The New Orleans Pelicans are coming off a tough loss to the New York Knicks 130-125. After battling hard all night, the Knicks simply made more timely shots and came up with more stops later. This season the Pelicans have lost games a lot, and I’ve been harsh, but tonight was different. This is a loss that a young team can be proud of.
I want to start with the man who returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench for seven straight games: Zion Williamson.
Big Z came out of the gate ready in this game, scoring 18 points in the first half, including 15 in the second quarter. He finished the game with 32 points, five rebounds, two steals, two blocks and two assists. The big key for Williamson in this one was his ability to make contact, get to the line 12 times and help put Karl-Anthony Towns in foul trouble.
My second player to include is Saddiq Bey, who, despite finishing the match rather cold with only three points from the second to the fourth quarter, started the match with 23 points in the first frame. On nights like this, having a player like Bey is a luxury, especially with both Trey Murphy III and Williamson getting off to slow starts. When needed, he can be relied on as the primary bucket-getter.
Another guy who was an elite bucket-getter, not just to start this game but all night long, was Jordan Poole, who had 10 of his 26 points in the first quarter. JP got to the foul line early and was clearly in the rhythm from then on, and oh boy, when Poole is in the rhythm, there aren’t many players I’d rather have with the ball in their hand.
Other notables
Other performances that impressed me included the play of Kevon Looney, who had been out of the rotation for 11 games and came into this game ready.
Without Mitchell Robinson and Josh Hart, Looney was able to feast on the boards and pull down nine rebounds, five of which came on the offensive glass. He was truly the perfect player for this game, especially since New York was missing two of the league’s most elite hustle players. After dominating on the boards in the two previous games, the Pelicans won that battle, along with the second chance battle, and Looney was a big reason for that.
I also really liked Looney’s minutes when I shared the court with Derik Queen, because I thought they complemented each other very well. Looney picks up on Queen’s lack of size and rebounding, while also staying out of the way on offense. I hope we see more of this combination in the future.
Trey Murphy III was also excellent despite having one of the league’s best defensemen in OG Anunoby with him all night – he still managed to finish the game with 21 points and five threes. Murphy III really struggled in the first half as Anunoby clearly got the best of him, but in the second half he responded as he went 5-for-7 from the field the last two quarters.
A final shoutout goes to Micah Peavy, who only had three points in ten minutes, but finished plus-minus third on the team. He did strong work in limited stretches guarding Jalen Brunson and left his impact felt beyond the box score.
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