New Orleans Pelicans: Analyzing their first win of the season

The New Orleans Pelicans secured their first win, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 119-112. What did the Pelicans do to earn their first victory of the new year?

The New Orleans Pelicans scored their first win of the season against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. It wasn’t a pretty game by any stretch of the imagination. The Pelicans had a hot start in the first half of the game only to have their lead dwindle at the very end. Both Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins got their points, but it was the role players that stepped up huge in the game.

It seems like the New Orleans Pelicans have finally acquired the formula to maintain their production for 48 minutes. I know it’s too early to say since they just won their first game. But they way they played the Golden State Warriors on Friday night carried over to their Lakers matchup. The Pelicans learned their lesson on not relying to heavily on their star players to bail them out in key moments.

Old reliable

The newly signed Jameer Nelson made a huge impact for the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night. He only scored five points and dished five assists, but he did most of his work in the critical moments of the fourth quarter. T

here was a reason why the Pelicans wanted to get Jameer Nelson and it was for clutch situations in close games. Nelson never forced himself into the offense and actually developed really good chemistry with Ian Clark. The Pelicans needed that type of veteran play, which was a stark contrast to Jordan Crawford, who was erratic on the court and was cut from the team to make room for Jameer Nelson.

The New Orleans Pelicans mixed in their offensive schemes with a lot of handoffs, paint penetrations and ball movement to score 68 points in the first half. The Lakers did adjust in the second half offensively to match the Pelicans’ firepower, but still couldn’t stop them down the stretch.

X-factor

The Pelicans fanbase would have to thank E’Twaun Moore for transforming himself to be the closer of the game. He scored seven points in the span of eight minutes to get the Pelicans to stave off the Lakers comeback.

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His ball penetration and 3-point shooting throughout the game (scoring 19 points) was critical, especially to have DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis continue to attack the basket without drawing any double-teams on key possessions.

The key with Moore is that he’ll need to be consistent moving forward if he wants to maintain his starting spot. Rajon Rondo is still projected as of this moment to be inserted into the starting lineup after he recovers from his injury. If Moore plays like this (he was a +18 on the floor), Alvin Gentry would have to reconsider changing up his lineup for the returning Rondo.

The bench stepped up once again for the New Orleans Pelicans for the second straight game. I’ve already mentioned Jameer Nelson’s contributions in the fourth quarter, but you can’t forget about Ian Clark.

He was deadly from the floor shooting (6-of-9) from the field and scoring 14 points, two assists, two rebounds and two steals. He’ll need to get consistent minutes moving forward to be the go-to scorer off the bench. He could be a dark horse contender for Sixth Man of the Year if he’s featured more on the offensive schemes.

The New Orleans Pelicans will look to get their second win of the season against the Portland Trail Blazers Tuesday night.

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The key to winning that game will be following the same playbook used against the Lakers. Ball penetration to the paint mixed with post-up plays and 3-point shooting should seal the second win of the season for the Pelicans.