HOUSTON – A look at three key numbers related to Saturday’s game at the Toyota Center between New Orleans and Houston (7 p.m. Central, Fox Sports New Orleans, ESPN Radio New Orleans 100.3 FM):
134: Total three-point attempts for New Orleans (86 in two games) and Houston (48 in one game) during the ultra-early part of the 2019-20 regular season schedule. It’s fairly safe to expect that the three-balls will be launched at a steady clip Saturday, because neither team has attempted fewer than 40 in any of three total regular season contests. Through the first four days of the NBA regular season, Houston ranks first in the league in its share of attempts from the field that are three-point tries (53.3 percent), a No. 1 placing that has become a Rockets tradition in recent years. New Orleans is fifth in that category so far, taking 43.0 percent of its shots from beyond the arc. Milwaukee, Dallas and Washington are ranked second through fourth, respectively. Individually, Lonzo Ball has taken the most threes for New Orleans, firing 15, followed by Brandon Ingram and Nickeil Alexander-Walker with 12 apiece.
31.0, 26.0: Scoring averages during the 2018-19 regular season vs. New Orleans for James Harden and Russell Westbrook, respectively, with each prolific guard facing the Pelicans four times. In their first game as Rockets teammates Thursday vs. Milwaukee, they both had rare off nights at the offensive end of the floor, as Harden mustered only 19 points on 2/13 shooting, while Westbrook’s 24 points came on 7/17 accuracy. The former Oklahoma City teammates have shown they can contribute to a team’s success in other ways, however – last season, Westbrook also averaged 11.0 rebounds and 10.8 assists vs. the Pelicans. Harden rang up averages of 8.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists in the head-to-head series.
0-6, 0-8, 4-0: New Orleans extreme cold and hot starts to the regular season in three of the past four years (the Pelicans began the ’17-18 campaign with an uncharacteristic-for-them .500 start, going 3-3 through six games). For the Pelicans to avoid continuing the negative part of that trend after an 0-2 start so far in ’19-20, they’ll need to break through for a victory against some formidable Western Conference competition. Following Saturday’s visit to Houston, New Orleans hosts five-time West defending champ Golden State on Monday, then conference contender Denver on Halloween. Oddly, the Pelicans have an active two-game winning streak in the Toyota Center, highlighted by an opening night blowout victory last season.
