Holiday’s late jumper lifts Pelicans
Pelicans win 117-115
NEW ORLEANS — Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis demonstrated what a decisive, composed and efficient tandem they can be when an opponent suffers a lastminute lapse.
Holiday highlighted a 26-point performance with a pull-up jumper near the foul line with 2 seconds left, Davis stole Brooklyn’s lastgasp inbound pass, and the New Orleans Pelicans remained unbeaten by scoring nine straight over the last 1:49 in a 117-115 victory over the Nets on Friday night.
“Our chemistry is there,” Holiday said, alluding to New Orleans’ 4-0 start to the regular season. “The way we’re playing, I think we know after these last couple games that we can win in tough situations.”
The Nets were clinging to a one-point lead and trying to run down the clock when D’angelo Russell’s pass intended for Caris Levert sailed out of bounds with 7 seconds left. The crowd, which had been screaming nervously for New Orleans to stop the clock by fouling in the moments before the turnover, suddenly erupted into triumphant roars as the Pelicans — who were out of timeouts — quickly inbounded the ball and Holiday raced toward the key on the dribble for his go-ahead 17-footer.
“We know what that play is. It’s either get the
ball to Anthony or come off a screen and if you have a wide-open shot then it’s a wide-open shot,” Holiday said. “Anthony attracts so many people when he rolls to the basket.”
The Nets took a timeout, and that’s when Brooklyn’s Ed Davis was assessed a technical foul for shoving Solomon Hill away from the Nets’ bench area, giving the Pelicans another free throw, which Holiday sank.
“I just learned from Jared Dudley,” Hill said, referring to Brooklyn’s veteran forward. “I tried to look at their play and a guy put himself in a situation that he probably shouldn’t have put himself in and things happen.”
The Nets still had a chance until Anthony Davis leapt to tip Joe Harris’ inbound pass to himself as time ran out.
“I was just trying to be all over the ball and try to make it tough for them,” said Davis, who missed 13 of his 19 shots in an off night by his standards, but still finished with 18 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks. “We just fought the entire game. It wasn’t pretty.”
Russell’s late turnover marred a 24-point performance in which he hit six 3-pointers.
“It was all my fault,” Russell said. “We’ve got to be better, honestly. We focused 47 minutes and 36 seconds, and that other 20-some-odd seconds we wasn’t focused. I wasn’t focused. So that’s where that mistake happened.”