Those that have watched the New Orleans Pelicans all season knew it would be a tough match up. The quick-striking, penetrating point guards of the Phoenix Suns will be perhaps the most difficult team for New Orleans to defend all season due to their recent struggles along the perimeter.
Goran Dragic, the crafty lefty, would no doubt have a great game slicing his way to the basket and hitting the occasional trey bomb. Same goes for Eric Bledsoe, as he is rightfully referred to as “Mini LeBron” among the most serious of NBA circles. The Pelicans were certainly going to have their hands full.
Despite the heroics of Phoenix’s point guards (22-3-3 on an efficient 10-of-17 shooting from Dragic and 21-8-3 from Eric Bledsoe on 6-of-13 shooting) the Pelicans were still able to edge out a hard fought victory, 110-106.
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New Orleans was in control for most of the game and would not allow the Suns to take a lead whenever they inched their way back into the ball game. Tyreke Evans continually would stifle any momentum that the Suns gained with an array of circus layups and the occasional jumper.
Playing against Phoenix forced New Orleans to play with a more up-tempo mentality — the way they should attempt to be playing night in and night out. There is no reason a roster with these kind of young athletes should play a slug it out, half court kind of game.
Anthony Davis did not have his biggest night on the offensive end (only 19 points) but it was easy to tell that this game brought out a different animal in him mentality wise. He pulled down a season-high 18 rebounds and logged 42 minutes — more than any other player.
Davis spoke postgame about what kind of impact this win could have on the future:
“It’s a big win. Coach (Monty Williams) talked about it, especially at shootaround, that (the Suns) are probably one of the teams we’re going to be fighting with in the standings. So we’ve got to make sure we try to get this win. That was our mentality the whole night, just coming out and playing great defense, executing on offense.”
Talking about any future playoff implications Tuesday night’s game will have seems ill-advised because so much can happen during an NBA season from now until April. But the race for the 8th seed in the Western Conference playoffs was definitely an underlying theme during the broadcast on Tuesday. And based on Davis’ comments, it was on the player’s mind too.
The Smoothie King center had a bit more buzz than it typically does down the stretch of close games and that made an impact on the players according to Coach Monty Williams:
“I think our guys got a ton of energy from this city tonight and that is what I have been trying to explain to our fan base since I’ve been here. To get that many people in our arena cheering for our guys down the stretch, knocking down buckets and getting stops and have our people cheer for us gives our guys a good boost. You have to make your home court a special place.”
The Suns and Pelicans will face off against one another three more times this season and judging on last night’s battle, each game will be filled with high intensity.
New Orleans and Phoenix knows that Oklahoma City is coming, that the rest of the conference is a bloodbath and that one — or even both teams — will find themselves sitting at home once the playoffs roll around.
Games like Tuesday night’s are a good showcase for why conference realignment may not be the most ideal solution for the NBA. Watching Western Conference basketball right now is is similar to watching an SEC West college football game. Every team is fighting for their lives and know that even the slightest missteps can take them right out of the race.
Tuesday night pinned two teams that recognized the importance of a regular season game in early December and traded significant blows accordingly.
It was a joy to watch, and I am glad the Pelicans found a way to come out on top.