Pelicans (5-15), Cavaliers (13-6)
In its most exciting game of the 2015-16 regular season so far, New Orleans also registered its best win. The Pelicans outlasted the Cavaliers in an extra period, after Cleveland rallied from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter. Jrue Holiday made the biggest of numerous momentous baskets for the hosts by draining a three-pointer with just eight seconds left in regulation, helping send the game into overtime. Anthony Davis scored six of NOLA’s nine points in OT, part of his excellent individual performance. The Pelicans ended a four-game losing streak by beating the Eastern Conference’s best team. Two weeks ago, also on ESPN, they knocked off the Spurs, the West’s second-best club.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Cleveland let New Orleans dribble off several precious seconds off the clock at the end of overtime, setting up Eric Gordon for free throws with only 1.6 ticks to go. Gordon split the free throws, but it didn’t matter – it was too late for the Cavaliers to make up a six-point margin. The Cavs were limited to just three OT points.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Davis made countless big plays in the fourth quarter and overtime, en route to a 31-point, 12-rebound outing. His jumper was on the mark for most of Friday, resulting in 13-for-22 shooting from the field. Davis also made a memorable hustle play near the end of regulation, chasing down a Cleveland turnover in the backcourt and throwing down a dunk with 45 seconds left, giving New Orleans a 102-101 lead. The Cavs were tenths of a seconds away from a shot-clock violation that would’ve given the Pelicans possession anyway, but Davis’ extra effort enabled him to track down the ball and convert a lead-changing score.
PELICANS UNSUNG CONTRIBUTOR
Dante Cunningham’s defensive performance was so significant that ESPN’s SportsCenter sent out a tweet acknowledging the forward and his work on that end of the floor. ESPN later noted that LeBron James (37 points, including 23 in the fourth quarter) shot just 3-for-17 while Cunningham was defending the future Hall of Famer, but James was 10-for-12 against other Pelicans defenders. Cunningham finished with a stat line of six points, eight rebounds, three assists, one steal and one block, but did a bunch of things that couldn’t necessarily be calculated.
QUOTES TO NOTE
“We had a play drawn up for Ryan (Anderson), but (Cleveland) did a good job of taking that away. I thought Jrue made a play. It wasn’t anything we drew up. He just made a great play for us.” – Gentry on Holiday’s game-tying three-pointer to help force OT
“Right when I let it go, it felt good. That’s probably why I held my follow-through up so long.” – Holiday on his clutch trey
“It just shows that when we play like we’re supposed to, we can beat anybody. We proved ourselves against (the Cavaliers) and the Spurs. We’ve got to do it against teams that are not the Spurs or not Cleveland. We can’t play down to the level of competition. We’ve got to make sure we’re playing at this high level every game, no matter who our opponent is.” – Davis on New Orleans defeating San Antonio and Cleveland among the five victories this season
BY THE NUMBERS
49.4: New Orleans shooting percentage from the field. Five different Pelicans scored at least 13 points.
10/33: Cleveland three-point shooting. The Cavs started quickly behind an early barrage of J.R. Smith treys (6/13, accounting for all of his 18 points), but cooled as the game progressed
41-22: Advantage in bench scoring for the Pelicans, topped by Anderson’s 18 points. Holiday said it was easier for him to get into a rhythm while coming off the bench for the first time in 2015-16, because the minutes weren’t as “choppy.” As a starter, sometimes Holiday has played early then sat for an extended amount of real time before entering in the fourth quarter.
