There are countless statistics and figures that demonstrate the New Orleans Pelicans' recent resurgence after a winless start, but perhaps nothing better illustrates the 180 than the club's early-season performance in the Smoothie King Center. Through five home games, the Pelicans looked like one of the league's worst squads, going 0-5 and being outscored by an average of 9.0 points. Since then, with guard Jrue Holiday back in action, they've flipped that result, at 5-0 with an average margin of victory of 11.2 points. On Nov. 12, the Pelicans were humbled by an on-the-rise Lakers team in a 27-point blowout – NOLA's last home defeat – but when that same Los Angles squad made a return visit Tuesday, New Orleans won by 17, going up by as many as 28 in the third quarter.
New Orleans (7-12, after starting 0-8) has a total of four wins in 2016-17 by a double-digit margin, with all four of them coming over the past 12 days. Three of the one-sided triumphs took place in Louisiana, including a 12-point win vs. Portland and 21-point margin over Minnesota on ESPN (the Pelicans also won in Atlanta by 18). One somewhat common denominator has been a stingier defense, with New Orleans holding four of the last seven opponents overall under 100 points. Prior to Holiday's return Nov. 18, the Pelicans accomplished that only three times in 12 games.
“The defensive performances the last few games at home have been very, very good,” reserve forward Terrence Jones said, after New Orleans gave up a season-low 88 points vs. the Lakers. “(Against) a team that beat us last time, to hold them to like 35 points less than the last time we saw them, to lock in and stay mentally focused on getting stops is always going to make the game easier.”
The Pelicans have been better at keeping opponents from penetrating into the gaps of the defense, but even when they've allowed those, they're one of the NBA's premier teams at erasing mistakes. Through Tuesday, New Orleans ranked second in the league in blocks per game (6.5, trailing only Golden State's 6.6 average). Anthony Davis may be en route to reclaiming his rejections crown, topping all players at 2.8 swats per game, while Jones is averaging 1.1 is just 24.2 minutes.
Offensively, several Pelicans have been exceptional in recent home games, headed by Davis and Holiday. The 23-year-old Davis now leads the NBA in scoring average at 32.1 points (more than a full point ahead of everyone else) and has taken his level of play to unprecedented levels in the Smoothie King Center. Over the five-game home winning streak, Davis is averaging 37.4 points, 13.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks, while shooting 57.1 percent from the field in the club's last seven games overall. Prior to Holiday's arrival Nov. 18, Davis was shooting 48.5 percent.
“When Jrue's on the floor, it changes the dynamic of our entire team,” Davis said.
In addition to the impact he's made on the efficiency of Davis and other teammates, Holiday has provided plenty of production himself over his seven games, despite a modest playing time allotment of 27.3 minutes per game. The one-time All-Star with Philadelphia is averaging 17.1 points and 6.3 assists, while off to career-best shooting starts from the field and three-point range. Holiday's career high in field-goal percentage is 44.7, but he's at 49.5 in 2016-17. He's a career 37.0 percent shooter from beyond the arc, but has gone 13/29 (44.8) so far. As a team, New Orleans had an overall scoring margin of minus 88 points without Holiday, but since his return, the Pelicans are plus 48 points.
On paper at least, there's even more good news on the horizon for a New Orleans team that suddenly is red-hot in the Smoothie King Center: its December schedule includes 10 home games, the most of any month.
