Both DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis led the New Orleans Pelicans to a win over the Dallas Mavericks Friday night. Can the best frontcourt in the NBA learn from this win and maintain their momentum against their next opponent, the Chicago Bulls?
The New Orleans Pelicans took care of business against the Dallas Mavericks to nab their fourth win of the season. The Pelicans couldn’t afford to lose to the Mavs, the worst team in the NBA. But the way the Pelicans played in that game was by far their worst output — shooting 40 percent from the field and 24.1 percent from 3-point range — in any of their wins.
Both DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis were huge in this one. They had their way for most of the game and with Dallas not boasting any decent rim protection throughout the season, it was easy pickings for the All-Stars (thoughSalah Mejri did have five blocks).
This win might be a microcosm of how the best frontcourt in the league should approach every game with consistency moving forward.
Monster game
Anthony Davis had a sensational game with 30 points, 13 rebounds and three blocks, and was playing like a man possessed early in the first half. His only intention in the first quarter was taking the ball to the rack, making all five of his field goals and getting to the free throw line. Davis will need to be consistent on how he starts game and following through the next three quarters. He has a tendency to settle for jumpers and 3-point shots in the second half of games.
Davis will need to constantly attack the rim, especially when DeMarcus Cousins is on the bench. If he keeps settling for jumpers, none of his teammates are capable of battling for 50-50 balls for the offensive rebounds. He can’t allow opposing defenders to dictate when he settles for jump shots so they can make a run to either cut or take a lead in the game.
Stat stuffer
DeMarcus Cousins came into this game second in the league in scoring (30.1 points per game), third in blocks (2.3 blocks per game) and fourth in rebounds (13 rebounds per game), but only managed to score 20 points.
He did grab 22 rebounds and dished seven assists, which does looks nice on a stat sheet but doesn’t really tell the whole story. Cousins was a +6 for the game (which was the fifth-highest for the Pelicans) because he got in foul trouble, took ill-advised shots, had bad turnovers and wasn’t really engaged on defense.
There are times when both of these All-Stars play that they can be simply unstoppable, but there are times that they are their own worst enemy. They know that no defender can stop them on the block or in the paint in the first quarter, but they tend to forget that by the end of the game.
That’s why it’s critical for both of them to learn from this game and play to their strengths. The best frontcourt in the NBA should make a consistent habit of attacking the rim for the majority of the game and getting their teammates open 3-point shots.
The New Orleans Pelicans are second in the league in points in the paint (52.5 per game) and fourth in assists (24.5 assists per game) but they need to be consistent for 48 minutes.
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That’s why their matchup against the Chicago Bulls will be critical to see if they can maintain the same gameplan they had against the Mavs for back-to-back wins.