MEMPHIS – Four days after ending Utah’s 10-game winning streak, New Orleans was at it again, halting a seven-game Memphis winning streak Monday. Among the many examples that demonstrate how improved the Pelicans have been in recent weeks, they’re now regularly beating some of the Western Conference’s hottest teams.
More importantly, New Orleans’ holiday road victory at FedEx Forum pulled the Pelicans to within 3.5 games of eighth place in the West, with Memphis currently holding that spot in the standings. New Orleans has gone 11-5 since a 6-22 start, putting it within striking distance of playoff position as Zion Williamson’s official NBA debut approaches.
“So let’s try to start a streak ourselves,” said Nicolo Melli on postgame radio of the Pelicans knocking off Utah and Memphis over their last three games. “But it’s important that we won against two teams that were (playing well).”
New Orleans set a franchise record Monday by sinking 21 three-pointers, including 15 before halftime. Point guard Lonzo Ball, who had five of New Orleans’ 24 assists, noted that the quality of looks helped the Pelicans stay hot for much of the game.
“I think they were good shots,” Ball said. “I don’t think we took too many tough ones.”
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
E’Twaun Moore closed the New Orleans third-quarter scoring with a three-pointer that gave the visitors a 98-75 lead. Earlier in the period, the Pelicans had built a 25-point edge, their biggest of the afternoon. Memphis pulled back within five points with less than two minutes remaining, but Brandon Ingram scored a driving layup and JJ Redick swished a three from the right corner to make it 126-116 with 35 seconds left.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Jrue Holiday hadn’t played since Jan. 4 at Sacramento, but after sitting out seven consecutive games, the guard didn’t seem to have missed any time Monday, draining shot after shot and playing his normal brand of disruptive defense. Holiday helped limit early Rookie of the Year frontrunner Ja Morant to a rough offensive afternoon (five of 14 from the field). On the other end, Holiday set his career high by connecting on seven three-pointers, en route to a 36-point day, just two points shy of tying a career-best in that category as well.
BY THE NUMBERS
21/48: New Orleans three-point shooting, which is 44 percent. Alvin Gentry noted after the game that the Pelicans would’ve had no issues with launching 50-plus attempts.
70-36: Memphis advantage in points in the paint, but it didn’t matter, because New Orleans scored 36 more points from beyond the arc and six more at the foul line.
51-43: Grizzlies rebounding advantage, but with the Pelicans relying heavily on smaller lineups and Melli at the center position, they were willing to live with that trade-off of a rebounding disadvantage. Memphis grabbed a whopping 15 offensive boards.
#WEEKLYREVIEW
Early in the 2019-20 season, Pelicans Player of the Week was almost exclusively a Brandon Ingram award, with the forward earning the most fan votes in eight of the first nine weeks of the regular season. The potential All-Star has continued to perform at a high level recently, but a big part of the reason New Orleans has gotten better team results over the past month is that other Pelicans have upped their production, resulting in Derrick Favors and Lonzo Ball splitting the honor for the previous three weeks. Ingram regained the award for Week 13, in large part due to his career-best 49-point outburst in a Thursday overtime victory vs. Utah. The Pelicans went 2-1 last week, also winning in Detroit (without Ingram and several other key players), but dropping a 133-130 final at home to the LA Clippers.
Previous winners:
Week 1-3: Brandon Ingram
Week 4: Jrue Holiday
Week 5-9: Brandon Ingram
Week 10: Derrick Favors
Week 11-12: Lonzo Ball
