Checking in on the undefeated New Orleans Pelicans
By James Grieco
Defense
Anthony Davis is setting the pace for the Defensive Player of the Year award as well. His counting stats — 3.3 blocks and 2.0 steals per game — are impressive enough, and the eye test proves his presence is otherworldly. While the Pelicans have a middle-of-the-pack 109.4 defensive rating overall, Davis has a 100.9 defensive rating.
He did this to the Clippers all night long on Tuesday:
AD was in complete control in the paint last night! #doitBIG https://t.co/ldteyIZfqG
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) October 24, 2018
Jrue Holiday, the Pelicans’ Robin to AD’s Batman, is a similarly impactful defender whose on-ball defense enables Davis to freely cover up any defensive mistake the Pelicans might make.
Holiday is one of the half-dozen or so best perimeter defenders in the league, and he’s shown in just three games that we shouldn’t expect any defensive drop from him in 2018-19. Holiday was largely responsible for reigning MVP James Harden scoring just 23 points on 6-of-15 shooting in the season opener, and he followed that up by putting the clamps on Buddy Hield Friday night. He also routinely held his own against the much bigger Tobias Harris on Tuesday.
Alvin Gentry pointed to Jrue Holiday's stifling on-ball defense vs. Buddy Hield as one of the turning points tonight for #Pelicans at that end of the floor. It was 72-63 at halftime, but after a 3Q surge, lead expanded to 110-90
— Jim Eichenhofer (@Jim_Eichenhofer) October 20, 2018
As the primary defender, opponents are shooting just 34.8 percent against Holiday on shots more than 15 feet from the basket–which is even considerably better than the expected field goal percentage on those shots. Simply put, Holiday is forcing opponents into long, tough 2s and contested 3s.
Solomon Hill, healthy and contributing enough on offense to stay on the court, is also helping the Pels’ defense.
More than anything, however, the Pelicans are limiting second chance points. They lead the league right now by allowing just 8.0 second chance points per game, largely due to committing so few turnovers and rebounding the hell out of the ball.
As a team, the Pelicans are grabbing 77.9 percent of defensive rebounds — good for fifth in the NBA. Beyond Davis, that number is as high as it is thanks to Julius Randle, who is third in the entire league with a 32.4 defensive rebounding percentage. Rebounding was one of the main reasons why New Orleans signed Randle, so seeing him continue his dominance on the glass must be reassuring for the franchise.