By Justin Batiste
Another big performance by Anthony Davis leads to an upset in Boston!
After beating the Boston Celtics in Boston, the New Orleans Pelicans have improved to 23-20, and remain 6th in the Western Conference. This game was nearly identical to the game Sunday against the New York Knicks. The Pelicans were on the road, the game went into overtime and managed to have another monstrous performance.
Sunday night Davis dropped 48 points, and tonight he dropped 45 points.
Although Davis shot 34 shots, he made 16 of them putting him at 47 percent for the night. The other star, center , finished the game with 19 points and 15 rebounds.
Normally, Cousins and Davis’ stat lines are identical. However, tonight just wasn’t Cousins’ shooting night.
Of course, Davis and Cousins are the main players on this team but there’s been another player who’s been helping this team close out games with his scoring and playmaking skills–point guard .
Holiday, on the season, is averaging 18.4 points per game, 4.4 rebounds per game and 5.1 assists per game. Tonight, Holiday had another solid outing. He finished the game with 23 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
The Pelicans can score with almost anyone in the league. It’s their defense that hurts them. Meanwhile, the Celtics are known for their defense. Well, tonight the Pelicans were the better team defensively.
New Orleans held Boston to a lower field goal percentage than their own. The Pelicans shot 45 percent from the field, while the Celtics shot 39 percent. New Orleans also had more defensive rebounds, blocks, steals and forced Boston into more turnovers.
had another solid game finishing with 27 points but from a team standpoint, the Pelicans were the better team tonight.
This is how New Orleans needs to play if they want to stay in the playoff hunt. Defend well and continue to have impactful performances from their primary players. This was a big win for the Pelicans.
