SALT LAKE CITY – New Orleans received big offensive nights Saturday from its three leading point producers on the season, normally enough to generate a win, but the Pelicans still couldn’t keep up with Utah on the scoreboard. Despite a combined 81 points by Brandon Ingram, Jrue Holiday and JJ Redick, the Jazz rode a big first half to a home victory. Utah racked up 74 points prior to intermission to take its biggest lead of the night at 20, then kept New Orleans at arm’s length for the vast majority of the second half.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Utah guard Mike Conley drained a dagger three-pointer from the left wing, giving the hosts a 122-110 edge with 2:13 remaining, seemingly sealing the second home win for the Jazz in as many nights. However, New Orleans used some late, hot shooting by Ingram and Holiday to get back within 124-120 in the final 30 seconds. Bojan Bogdanovic came up with a back-breaking offensive rebound though and sank two free throws, making it a six-point margin.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Ingram’s third quarter powered New Orleans to a 34-24 edge, allowing the Pelicans to make it more of a contested game after they trailed by 20 at halftime. After he shot poorly in the first 24 minutes, Ingram dropped in 10 third-period points, then added 15 in the fourth quarter, totaling a team-best 33 points. Holiday deposited 28 points, including 19 in the second half (12 in the final stanza).
“We just picked up the energy, really,” Holiday said of the second half. “In that first two minutes of the game, (Utah) kind of just punched us, and it was tough to recover. In the second half, we picked up the energy, gotten into the ball (defensively).”
BY THE NUMBERS
65: As productive as Ingram and Holiday were, Utah’s combo of Donovan Mitchell and Bogdanovic put up even more points. Mitchell had 37; Bogdanovic added 28.
10: New Orleans turnovers, a season low.
51.2: Utah shooting percentage from the field, nearly 10 percentage points higher than New Orleans’ rate of 41.6.
#SATURDAYSCORER
For all 14 Saturday games throughout New Orleans’ regular season, we’ll be selecting a Pelicans player we think will most exceed his season scoring average for that day’s game. Daniel Sallerson picked Jrue Holiday, while Jim Eichenhofer took Frank Jackson. In a fan poll among four other candidates, JJ Redick was chosen by a narrow margin, at 28 percent of votes.
The fifth Saturday contest was won by Sallerson, making the season standings: Daniel 3, Jim 1, Fans 1. Sallerson and Eichenhofer cannot repeat a player among any of the first seven Saturday games.
Previous winners:
Oct. 26 at Houston, Fans – Lonzo Ball (Daniel pick: Nickeil Alexander-Walker; Jim: JJ Redick)
Nov. 2 at Oklahoma City, Daniel – JJ Redick (Jim: Jrue Holiday; Fans: Lonzo Ball)
Nov. 9 at Charlotte, Daniel – Kenrich Williams (Jim: Brandon Ingram; Fans: Jrue Holiday)
Nov. 16 at Miami, Jim – E’Twaun Moore (Daniel: Frank Jackson; Fans: Jrue Holiday)
