Miller’s late 3s lift Pelicans past Hawks
NEW ORLEANS — A couple of seasons overseas appears to have turned Darius Miller into the clutch jump shooter the Pelicans hoped they were getting when they made him a second-round draft choice in 2012.
Miller hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, when he scored 14 of his career-high 21 points, and New Orleans overcame a sloppy performance to beat the struggling Atlanta Hawks 106-105 on Monday night.
“I feel like I’m finally getting into a shooting rhythm,” Miller said. “This is the best league in the world. To perform here, it feels really good.”
DeMarcus Cousins had 22 points and 16 rebounds, and fellow All-Star big man Anthony Davis added 13 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots for the Pelicans, who have won five of six. E’Twaun Moore tied a career high with 24 points for New Orleans.
Kent Bazemore scored 22 points for the Hawks, who led by 14 before fading to lose their fourth straight.
“There are a lot of positives, you know, the way the guys competed on the road against a good team,” said Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer, whose team has won just two of its first 14 games. “Just a play here or there, but I’m proud of the effort. I’m proud of the competitiveness of our group.”
Bazemore missed a critical free throw with 37.1 seconds left. Atlanta still had a chance to take a late lead, but Dennis Schroder’s errant pass toward Tyler Cavanaugh sailed out of bounds with 3.2 seconds to go.
Davis’ late turnover — New Orleans’ 19th of the game — gave Atlanta one last desperation shot with about a second left, but Bazemore was unable to get a clean look at his 3-point attempt over Jrue Holiday.
“It’s really tough, because
we played hard and battled against two of the best bigs in the league,” said Cavanaugh, a rookie who scored a career-best 16 points. “We followed the game plan really well. We were right there.”
Atlanta led 101-97 after Cavanaugh’s fourth 3 of the game with 2:41 to go. Miller responded with the first of three 3s in the final 2:19, including two in the final minute. His last, from the left wing, came after Holiday’s near turnover rolled right to the Pelicans small forward.
“That was lucky,” Miller said. “I don’t know how it got to me, but I was ready to shoot it.”