New Orleans Pelicans: Nikola Mirotic off to a hot start in 2018-19

The New Orleans Pelicans won the first two games of the 2018-19 NBA season. One of the reasons for the Pels’ hot start has to do with the solid play of Nikola Mirotic.

Around this time last season, New Orleans Pelicans forward Nikola Mirotic was away from the court thanks to a preseason altercation that took place between him and former Chicago Bulls teammate Bobby Portis. As a result of that unfortunate incident, not only did Mirotic miss 23 games, but he also requested a trade.

As expected, the trade didn’t happen immediately. In spite of that fact, Mirotic remained professional and was a big reason why the Bulls went on an unlikely seven-game winning streak during the month of December. Eventually, the Bulls sent Mirotic (and a second round pick) to the Pelicans in exchange for Omer Asik, guards Jameer Nelson and Tony Allen (who were both subsequently waived) and a first round draft pick.

During his first two months with the Pelicans, Mirotic struggled to fit in with his new team. In fact, he shot 39.6 percent and 38.8 percent from the field in that span. However, Mirotic turned things around in the last month of the season, posting averages of 22.2 points and 10.7 rebounds per contest on 53.1 percent shooting from the field and 41.7 percent from 3-point range.

That trend continued into the first round of the 2018 NBA Playoffs against the Portland Trail Blazers. In that series, Mirotic posted averages of 18.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per contest on shooting splits of .571/.462/.833, helping the Pels put the Blazers away in four games.

Unfortunately, Mirotic didn’t have the same level of success against the Golden State Warriors in the conference semifinals (12.4 points per game on 39.6 percent shooting from the field). After the disappointing showing against the Dubs, Mirotic was looking forward to going through the preseason with his teammates, compared to having to learn everything on the fly.

So far, that has certainly paid off. In the Pelicans’ season opener against the Houston Rockets, Mirotic pumped in 30 points to go along with 10 boards and three assists. He also converted six of his eight attempts from beyond the arc.

Thanks to a starting frontcourt that contributed 72 points and 19 rebounds, the Pelicans steamrolled past the Rockets on their home floor, 131-112. Yes, the same Houston squad that had the best record in the league last season.

If you had thought the Pelicans would have a letdown in their next outing against a Sacramento Kings ball club that won 27 games last season, you would’ve been mistaken. In that contest, the Pels turned a relatively close game into a blowout 149-129 win, setting a franchise record for most points scored in a game.

Once again, Mirotic helped set the tone, scoring a career-best 36 points on a very efficient 14-of-21 from the floor. He also knocked down five of his nine attempts from downtown.

Seven players are averaging double figures, including Mirotic’s 33 points per outing. The Pels have scored at least 30 points in every quarter through the first two games.

Anthony Davis has accumulated 57 points, 26 rebounds and 14 assists, joining Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley as the only other players to put up those kind of numbers in the first two games of a season, per Basketball-Reference. Even more impressive is the fact that he has done so while committing just one turnover.

Finally, Mirotic is the only player in NBA history to score 66 points, pull down 19 rebounds and knock down 10 3-pointers in his first two games.

Of course, Mirotic is not going to average over 30 points per contest for the rest of the season, but if he can play continue to prove that he can be a reliable scoring option, as well as a good rebounder, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise to see the Pelicans contend for one of the top four spots in the Western Conference.