The New Orleans Pelicans evened their record at 10-10 Wednesday night when they slid by the the Detroit Pistons 111-106. It was a competition worthy for the eyes of every NBA Draft enthusiast with former lottery picks dressed up and down both lineups. It was a match up of two teams very familiar with haunting the basement of the NBA’s standings and clinging to the top of the draft order in the lottery. The game was fairly even the entire way as the Pelicans held just a six-point lead going into halftime. The Pistons outscored the birds from “The Big Easy” by nine in the fourth quarter to force overtime. But Detroit’s efforts came up short as the Pelicans outpaced them in OT.
How New Orleans won:
Despite top-end efforts from Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe, who combined for 21 rebounds, the Pelicans just did work on the boards. Both teams hovered around each other in offensive rebounds with the slight edge going to the Pelicans 16-15, but the damage was done on the defensive boards. New Orleans cleaned glass like they had a girl coming over. The team stacked 51 total rebounds to Detroit’s 43.
The Pistons also lacked from behind the arc, knocking down just 5-21 threes, or 23.8 percent. Meanwhile, N’awlins connected on 9-23 from range, or 39 percent. It makes a big difference when you take only two more threes than your opponent but hit on almost twice as many.
How Detroit lost:
Detroit did an excellent job pressuring the ball, forcing 15 turnovers by the Pelicans. However, that doesn’t help at all if you can’t hold onto the ball either. The Pistons gave the ball away 13 times throughout the game. It also didn’t help that Detroit committed 19 personal fouls and sent the Pelicans to the line the entire game. New Orleans went 26-32 from the charity stripe, and if you’re going to put the other team on the line, you have to make it count when you go there as well. They didn’t. The Motor City boys completed 17-27 free throw attempts; coincidentally, had they made even one more free throw, they could have avoided overtime and walked out with a win. Take this as a lesson, children. Always hit your free throws.
Former Lottery Players:
New Orleans
Al-Farouq Aminu had 11 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks. Tyreke Evans was a force off the bench with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals. Eric Gordon dropped in 14 points with 6 rebounds. And Austin Rivers wasn’t completely silenced. He had 4 points, 3 steals and 2 assists. Former No. 6 overall pick Josh Childress did not play.
Detroit
Greg Monroe had a big game with 28 points and 10 rebounds. His running mate, Andre Drummond, decided he wanted a double-double too with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Former Milwaukee Bucks great Brandon Jennings poured in 25 points and dropped 4 dimes. He added 5 rebounds and 6 steals in an all-around, stat-stuffing performance. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the rookie, went 1-5 from the field. His most impressive statistic was a three-rebound performance. Better luck next time, young blood.
Coming up:
New Orleans has won 6 of its last 10 games and is only two games back from the Phoenix Suns for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. The Pelicans’ next game is Friday when they host the Memphis Grizzlies, who allow the sixth-least points per game with 96.
Detroit is 5-5 in its previous 10 games but has lost the past three. The Pistons will host the struggling Brooklyn Nets Friday who, at 7-14, are tied for the fifth-worst record in the NBA. Brooklyn is coming off a 104-96 win against the Boston Celtics Tuesday.
By Robert Judin
Follow @RobertJudin
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