BROOKLYN – When teammates analyze how Tyreke Evans plays at peak form, instead of using conventional terms out of a textbook, the words tend to be more informal, more descriptive of a man who simply knows how to get buckets.
“He's a hooper, man,” guard Jrue Holiday said after Thursday's 104-95 New Orleans win at Brooklyn, which was sparked significantly by Evans. “He's going to find any way possible to score.”
“I was very happy to see him out there ballin' like that,” forward Terrence Jones said, smiling.
Nearly a year after undergoing left knee surgery last winter, which forced him to miss 10-plus months of basketball during the rehabilitation process, Evans was a force to be reckoned with in Barclays Center, erupting for 21 second-half points. His 29-point night was the most he's scored in more than two years (he went for 34 vs. Golden State on Dec. 14, 2014). More importantly for Evans and the Pelicans, it was a positive sign that the 6-foot-6, 220-pounder with the sturdy build of a football player is making progress in his return to the floor.
“I'm getting there. I was gone 11 months, so I'm not expecting to just come out here and be my old self,” said Evans, who's now played a dozen games since making his season debut Dec. 15. “I just take it one game at a time, and am getting better and better every night. My knee's feeling good, so I've just got to get my legs back under me.”
“It's a process and a step-by-step thing,” Pelicans Coach Alvin Gentry said. “You have to understand that he's going to have games like this, but he also will struggle some. What he's doing is becoming (more) in basketball shape, where he has his legs under him and he can start finishing at the basket or finding open guys. We like the progress that he's made, and I think he'll just continue to get better.”
Indeed, Evans has battled inconsistency over the past month, seeing his field-goal percentage dip under 40 prior to Thursday's stellar 10/15 performance. As was the case during his early-career Sacramento days and into his New Orleans tenure, though, Evans is one of the NBA's more difficult players to keep from penetrating and finishing around the basket. He also logged a season-most 28 minutes against the Nets, after being restricted to 20 minutes or less in his first 10 appearances.
After New Orleans fell behind by as many as eight points to Brooklyn, Evans was pivotal in a comeback, highlighted by a 31-16 fourth-quarter advantage. Evans powered in four layups and went 4/4 at the foul line, among his 14 final-stanza points.
“That's Tyreke,” Holiday said, simply. “He's going to find a way to get to the basket. Especially down the stretch when we needed a bucket, he got to the basket or knocked down an open jump shot.”
“It's just good to see him back,” forward Solomon Hill said. “It's good to see him getting to that line, starting to get some foul calls for him. He's improving. And that's all you want to see from him, day in and day out.”
Asked Thursday by a New York City reporter if people had forgotten about how adept Evans is at handling the ball and causing problems for the opposing defense – after all, one of his nicknames is “Reke Havoc” – Evans smiled, then pointed to his long layoff from hooping.
“I don't think they forgot, but me being out so long (was a factor),” Evans said. “Now that I'm back, you'll see more of that.”
