E’Twaun Moore came off the bench in the first half and started dropping in his trademark feathery floaters, along with three-point buckets. Jahlil Okafor was a second-half beast in the paint, proving unstoppable for Brooklyn’s undermanned frontcourt. In between, New Orleans guards Frank Jackson and rookie Nickeil Alexander-Walker added energy and scoring production.
Pelicans fifth-year head coach Alvin Gentry frequently used the phrase “next man up” leading up to Wednesday’s 31-point scrimmage rout over the Nets, a message his players seemed to embrace wholeheartedly. In their first “game action” since March 8, New Orleans looked more than ready for basketball, pouring in 56 first-half points in just 20 minutes. Moore, Okafor, Jackson and Alexander-Walker each rank between eighth and No. 13 on the Pelicans in scoring average during the 2019-20 regular season, but combined to rack up 47 points Wednesday on 19/36 shooting.
“I’ve always said that this team is a deep team, with a lot of talent,” said forward Nicolo Melli, who is normally a reserve, but filled in as a starter for Zion Williamson vs. Brooklyn. “Young players with a lot of energy. I think we have everything to do something good here.”
New Orleans finished with 24 assists, with eight players handing out multiple dimes, topped by Alexander-Walker’s four. Gentry described the ball distribution as something he expected.
“We’re a very unselfish team, so it was not a surprise that we moved the basketball,” he said. “I just thought we did a good job of making quick decisions, moving the ball, then creating better shots. We had good shots, but we created better shots with our ball movement.”
“I don’t think offense is going to be a problem for us,” point guard Lonzo Ball said of the Pelicans having 33- and 28-point quarters, despite the periods only being 10 minutes each during the initial scrimmage. “We’ve got a lot of play-makers and unselfish guys. I’m not too worried about that side of the ball.”
New Orleans should face a tougher challenge vs. Denver in Saturday’s scrimmage, a team featuring personnel much more reflective of its main roster than what Brooklyn relied upon Wednesday.
“Obviously Brooklyn was missing a lot of players,” Gentry said. “It will be a much sterner test (Saturday), so we’ll have to see then. But we’re trending in the right direction, from the standpoint of the way we pass the basketball. Defensively, we were pretty good in every area, except we’ve got to get a little better in our closeouts.”
Denver notched an 89-82 scrimmage win Wednesday over Washington, highlighted by rookie Bol Bol playing in his very first NBA game action and posting 16 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks. Unlike New Orleans – which had no one log more than 21 minutes vs. Brooklyn – Denver leaned on five players for 25-plus minutes against the Wizards. Nuggets frontcourt starters Nikola Jokic and Paul Millsap logged 27 and 25, respectively.
