Pelicans stunner
Superb Davis leads New Orleans to win over Memphis
NEW ORLEANS: Anthony Davis had little to say about his latest dunk-filled scoring outburst. He even shrugged off his seldom-seen “Shammgod” crossover dribble that stunned the Grizzlies, delighted the crowd and set up his thunderous driving dunk.
The Pelicans’ perennial All-Star was more eager to highlight an improved defensive performance that has given the Pelicans hope of stringing some victories together before the season gets away from them.
Davis had 36 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots, and New Orleans pulled away for a 114-95 victory over reeling Memphis on Monday night.
“That’s how we were able to be successful last year, by playing defence,” Davis said.
“It leads us to get a lot of transition points, fast-break points and easy buckets, gets guys wide-open threes and stuff like that.”
Mike Conley had 22 points and 10 assists for Memphis, but that was not nearly enough to stem what is now a six-game slide.
Second-year pro Frank Jackson scored a career-high 17 points for New Orleans, who have won two straight for the first time since winning three in a row in mid-November.
New Orleans’ latest victories have come against struggling teams in Memphis and Cleveland. But the Pelicans, who came in allowing 115.1 points per game and yielded 126 in a disheartening loss at Brooklyn last Wednesday, took a considerable measure of gratification from holding two straight foes under 100.
“It was a really good team win for us because I thought, defensively, the last two games, we’ve been really, really solid,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said.
New Orleans dominated inside, outscoring Memphis 70-42 in the paint and out-rebounding the Grizzlies 40-36.
Still, most of the game was competitive. There were 11 lead changes and nine ties, and neither team led by more than six until Julius Randle’s dunk gave New Orleans an eight-point lead with five minutes left in the third. That was the beginning of the end for Memphis, who have lost 13 of 16 after winning 15 of their first 24 games.
“Things aren’t going our way and teams are doing a good job of taking away what we are trying to do, so we have to figure out ways to play out of that,” said Memphis centre Marc Gasol, who was held to seven points on 3-of-10 shooting.
“Our confidence is really fragile and when something bad happens, especially in the second half, we kind of panic and a six- or eightpoint deficit goes to 16. Everyone is giving their effort, but now we also have to put discipline and everything into it and help your brothers out.”
Randle finished with 15 points for New Orleans, while Jrue Holiday scored 13 and Elfrid Payton 11.
JaMychal Green scored 16 points for the Grizzlies. Jaren Jackson Jr. added 12 points.