You have to give the New Orleans Pelicans (28-23) a lot of credit for their performance on Friday night. Exactly one week after losing DeMarcus Cousins for the season, they were able to put together a solid effort to take down the Oklahoma City Thunder (30-23) 114-100.
It was all Pelicans from the outset as they got out to a six-point lead with 7:48 left in the first. However, it didn’t last long as the Thunder went on a 17-2 run to get out to a double-digit lead and held onto that as the first quarter concluded.
Oklahoma City’s lead ballooned up to 16 points early on in the second quarter, but the Pelicans fought back late in the first half and brought the lead down to four points at the break.
The Pelicans kept fighting as the second half got underway, quickly getting out to an eight-point lead thanks to some solid shooting from beyond the arc from E’Twaun Moore. The Thunder brought the lead back down to three points with 2:56 left in the third, but were unable to get any closer as both teams headed into the fourth.
The Pelicans began to pull away with a floater from Anthony Davis with 2:39 left put the final nail in the Thunder’s hopes. A big reason for that was Davis putting up 16 of his 43 points in the fourth quarter.
The Pelicans will stay on the road and take on the Minnesota Timberwolves (33-22) on Saturday with tipoff set for 8 pm.
-Clint Domingue