Pelicans Reactions: Jekyll and Hyde Pelicans rout Cavaliers in bounceback win
One night after being blown out by 30 points, the Jekyll and Hyde Pelicans flipped the script on Friday with a 116-82 win over Minnesota.
The Pelicans dominated nearly from start to finish on the night, opening up a lead in the first quarter on the back of Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson. Jaxson Hayes’ big second quarter helped expand the lead to 69-48 halftime lead.
New Orleans allowed just nine third-quarter points and put the game away, allowing the starters to rest for the entire fourth quarter. No Pelican starter played more than 25 minutes on the night in the win.
Ingram had 28 points in the win on 11-of-14 shooting while Williamson had 23 points in 18 minutes. Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 15 off the bench.
The Good: Defense
It's very, very, very rare that the defense is a positive focal point for the Pelicans this season. But when the team holds Cleveland to 34.1% shooting from the field, 21.9% shooting from the 3-point line and limits them to 19 points in the second quarter and nine points in the third quarter, they deserve some kudos. It was the best defensive performance of the season against a team that had been playing well prior to the All-Star break.
The Bad: Inconsistency
The only negative to take away from tonight is questioning why the Pelicans can't and don't play like this every night. On most nights, it's a matter of effort on the defensive end and they had that effort on Friday. There are even more questions as to how the team doesn't have that effort coming out of the All-Star break in Thursday's game but that's been the case most of the year. Ultimately, the team will need to play the rest of the season as they did on Friday to have any hope of sniffing the postseason.
Lonzo Ball: Off night
The Pelicans' blowout performance offensively came in spite Lonzo Ball. On the night, Ball shot 1-of-7 from the field and 1-of-5 from the 3-point line. He finished with three points, six assists, four rebounds, a steal and a block in 25 minutes.
1
1
