It’s not often that you see the New Orleans Pelicans (26-21) big stars in Anthony Davis and Boogie Cousins fall below 20 points and come away with a win. However, that’s what happened on Wednesday night as they got out of Charlotte with a 101-96 win over the Hornets (19-27).
One of the big reasons why was because of the balanced attack in the starting five with four players getting into double figures including E’Twaun Moore. The Pelicans came out the gates strong with a 7-0 run early on. The Hornets made it a little more competitive late, but Davis put up 10 points and gave the Pelicans an 11-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
That lead evaporated early and the Hornets got out in front courtesy of a Kemba Walker layup with 4:35 left until halftime. The Pelicans were able to bounce back in the final moments of the first half thanks to a last second Dante Cunningham 11-foot jumper and took a 56-53 lead into the locker room.
The third quarter was unlike Pelicans performances in the past as their offense didn’t become stagnant. That was enough to get the Pelicans into the fourth quarter with a three-point lead with a three-pointer from Darius Miller as time expired.
The Hornets just couldn’t get over the hump though as they tied it up twice early on and looked poised to sneak away with a win. However, the Pelicans are able to get the win thanks to some solid shooting from the charity stripe.
New Orleans will return to the friendly confines of the Smoothie King Center on Friday when they take on the Houston Rockets (34-12) with tipoff set for 7 pm.
-Clint Domingue