Bulls Win in Romp 107-72, Davis Hurt for Pelicans

The Chicago Bulls know about injuries. Now, maybe the New Orleans Pelicans do too.

Anthony Davis, the talented, young F-C injured his right shoulder after a dunk with 4:16 to play in the second quarter and the Bulls took advantage, going on a 40-11 run to salt away the game. The Bulls won handily, 107-72.

Key starters have missed games for Chicago, notably Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah.  Mike Dunleavy missed his 18th game due to a nagging ankle injury and hasn't played since January 1st.

Chicago is now 18-9 on the road, while winning 13 of 24 home games. The Bulls face the Orlando Magic Sunday night to end their 6 game road trip.  With the win, Chicago ended its 3 game losing streak. For today, the ship is a bit righted in the swelling seas of the NBA season.

The Bulls made 51% of shots from the field and 10-22 shots from long-distance. Tony Snell had a sharp-shooters night making 5 of 6 treys for 19 points in the game. Doug McDermott had 9 points in just over 4 minutes of action, making all 3 of his shots and hitting 2 FT's.

Pau Gasol and Derrick Rose each had 20 points. Gasol picked up another double-double due to hauling in 15 rebounds.  Jimmy Butler scored 18 points. Significantly, Butler played 33:43 minutes in the game. He leads the NBA in minutes played. Gasol played 27:34, well under his average per game. Guard Tyreke Evans scored 15 for the Pelicans, who were never in the game after half-time.

Chicago played with good energy and purpose in the Big Easy to earn the W. Making half of your shots on the road is not easy but the Bulls managed to do this. Of course, the injury to Davis helped the Bulls get going.

Read More

New Orleans Pelicans' Front Court Impresses in Victory Against Orlando Magic

The much anticipated NBA season has begun, and for the New Orleans Pelicans this season is coming with some expectations for not only them as a team, but for their star Anthony Davis to emerge as one of the NBA’s best players. Opening night was a successful one for Davis and the Pelicans, as they were able to defeat the Orlando Magic.

Davis’ first game of the season was a fantastic one. He scored a game-high 26 points on 10 for 22 shooting to go along with 17 rebounds, and a ridiculous nine blocks. Davis certainly didn’t seem to be bothered at all by the hype surrounding him coming into this season, and it looks like the buzz about him being a top player in the league this season is very legitimate after seeing his dominance on both ends of the court against the Magic.

It wasn’t only Davis who played well for the Pelicans, as the offseason acquisition of Omir Asik, and a healthy Ryan Anderson gives the Pelicans a unique and talented front court. Asik had a very nice debut for the Pelicans, scoring 14 points on seven for 10 shooing with 17 rebounds and five blocks.

Anderson, who came off the bench provided a big spark offensively after a slow start shooting the ball. He was able to score 22 points off the bench on nine for 22 shooting, and like Asik and Davis, Anderson is a good rebounder as well, as he grabbed nine boards.

New Orleans’ front court looked awfully impressive in their opening night victory, and in a loaded Western Conference they will need it to be great in order to make the playoffs.

Read More

Nets Unable to Win Second Overtime Game in as Many Nights

sportsspyder.com

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

March 24th, 2014

Brooklyn Nets vs. New Orleans Pelicans Post Game Recap

Final Score: Nets 104 Pelicans 109

The Brooklyn Nets coming off an overtime victory against the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday found themselves in the same situation on Monday night against the New Orleans Pelicans, but this time they were unable to pull off a second straight overtime win in as many days. The loss moves the Net to (37-32) on the season, which is two games behind the Toronto Raptors in the Atlantic Division.

Player of the Game: Deron Williams

Coming off a relatively quiet night on Sunday, Deron Williams was very good against the Pelicans on Monday evening. Williams scored 23 points on eight for 17 shooting with eight rebounds and five assists in what was an all around good game. Williams was able to get one steal, which makes it 19 straight games that Williams has got a steal, the longest streak of any player in the NBA.

Positives:

Paul Pierce was the Nets leading scorer on Monday night, as Pierce had 24 points on seven for 16 shooting. Pierce was firing away from three-point range, as he took 11 shots from behind the arc, and hit four of them. In the third quarter he did appear to do something to his right shoulder again, which is the one that has been giving him issues the last few weeks, so that will be something to keep an eye on.

Off the bench for Brooklyn they were able to get some good production from their big men in Mirza Teletovic and Andray Blatche. Teletovic scored nine points on three for seven shooting and Blatche scored 12 points on three for eight shooting with five rebounds.

Negatives:

After a big night for Samuel Dalembert on Sunday night it had to be expected that Anthony Davis would put up a monster game, and he didn’t disappoint. Davis finished with 24 points on nine for 17 shooting to go along with 14 rebounds and three blocks. The size and skill of Davis was just simply too much for the small Nets lineup to handle on Monday.

Davis wasn’t the only one to have a big game against Brooklyn, as Tyreke Evans came out of nowhere with his best game of the season. Evans scored a game-high 33 points on 13 for 19 shooting. Evans did more than just score, as he had 10 rebounds, seven assists, and three steals. The only downside to a terrific night from Evans was the fact that he did turn the ball over seven times.

Next up for the Nets will be another road game, as they will be heading to Charlotte to play Al Jefferson and the Bobcats.

Read More

W2W4: New York Knicks vs. New Orleans Pelicans; February 19th, 2014

By Kenneth Teape (@teapester725)

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Pre-Game News and Notes

New York Knicks vs. New Orleans Pelicans

The Knicks will look to get on track tonight against the Pelicans after a tough loss last night to the Memphis Grizzlies. The Knicks will also be looking to exact some revenge on the Pelicans, who beat the Knicks 103-99 December 1^st at Madison Square Garden. In that game the Pelicans didn’t even have rising star Anthony Davis, who left the game with a non-displaced fracture in his left hand, and were still able to get the victory. It will be a tough match-up with Davis in the lineup tonight but the Knicks do match-up pretty well with the current lineup the Pelicans are forced to use. Here are some things to look forward to in the game tonight.

-Players News and Notes

The Knicks, who were without Kenyon Martin prior to the All-Star break will be without him again tonight and most likely for the remainder of the road trip. Martin is dealing with more ankle soreness and the Knicks are missing him immensely. Andrea Bargnani has been out a month now and there is still update on his injured elbow. His timetable is still unknown of when he is expected to return to the court.

Two players to keep an eye on also are Raymond Felton and Iman Shumpert. They are the two names brought up most in trade rumors involving the Knicks and if anything is close to being made official on the trade front both players may not be suiting up tonight.

For the Pelicans they will still be without Jrue Holiday. His status has been upgraded and he should be back with the team within a week, but the Knicks will not have to face him. Anthony player they should be happy about not facing is Ryan Anderson. Anderson is out with a back injury. That sound was a sigh of relief by the Knicks, who have been killed by Anderson every time he steps on the court against them.

Match-up Of The Game: Carmelo Anthony/Tyson Chandler vs. Anthony Davis

Kathy Willens/AP Photo

The Knicks front court will have their hands full with Davis no matter who is guarding him. He presents match-up problems against virtually everyone in the NBA as his combination of athleticism and size is not rivaled by many in the league. Davis, in the midst of a breakout career year will cause problems for the Knicks wherever he is stationed defensively. He has the intangibles to make life difficult for Anthony, who would be best suited taking Davis away from the basket. It would help the Knicks a lot by having Davis as far away from the basket as possible to diminish his rebounding and shot blocking abilities.

-Re-Kindle New Orleans Magic

Over the weekend during the All-Star festivities two Knicks put on offensive shows. Tim Hardaway Jr. and Anthony both set the court ablaze with hot outside shooting. Anthony set an All-Star game record with eight three-point makes while Hardaway scored 36 points in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge Friday night. It would go a long way if both players were able to put on performances reminiscent of that tonight against a Pelicans team that allows teams to shoot a high percentage against them at 46.2 percent.

-Woody’s Rotation

Last night we saw Mike Woodson go against his normal rotations and ride the hot hands throughout the second half. It helped get the Knicks back into the game but also could have been a problem holding that lead; Woodson made only two subs the whole fourth quarter, as Pablo Prigioni played the last 14:29 of the game without a rest. Woodson needed to use the players that were performing, but at what cost?

Anthony Gruppuso/USA TODAY Sports

Tonight it will be worth watching how he monitors minutes. The Knicks are engaged in trade rumors with seemingly the whole NBA so until the game starts they are not even 100 percent sure which players will be taking the court for them tonight. It would benefit him and the team greatly if he dipped a little deeper into the bench tonight and gave some more minutes to players like Jeremy Tyler and Toure’ Murry with it being the second game of the back-to-back set.

-Perimeter Play

Even without Holiday, the Pelicans still possess strong perimeter play. They start a capable replacement in Bryan Roberts and have Eric Gordon alongside him in the backcourt. The real problem for the Knicks is former Rookie of the Year winner Tyreke Evans. In the first meeting this season Evans scored 24 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter, to go along with seven assists and four steals.

The Knicks will need a spirited effort from their perimeter players to keep up with the Pelicans. An improved performance from J.R. Smith, who is very vocal about his dislike of the mask he needs to wear to protect the broken bone in his face, should become more comfortable with it in the coming days. He was pretty much useless Tuesday in his first game with the mask, shooting 2-8 and grabbing five rebounds to go with one assist.

Read More

Plumlee Has Career Night Against Pelicans

By Nick Ziegler (@Ziggy26x)

February 9^th, 2014

New Orleans Pelicans vs Brooklyn Nets Post Game Recap

Final Score: Pelicans 81 Nets 93

The Brooklyn Nets behind a great first half were able to knock off the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday evening. The victory over the Pelicans moves the Nets to (23-26) on the season, which put them just 2.5 games behind the Toronto Raptors in the Atlantic Division.

Player of the Game: Mason Plumlee

sportspyder.com

Rookie Mason Plumlee had his best game as a pro on Sunday night, as the young big man brought a lot of energy for the Nets off the bench. Plumlee had a career-high 22 points on eight for 10 shooting, while doing a pretty good job getting to the free throw line nine times, where he hit six free throws. In addition to the career-high scoring night, Plumlee tied his season-best 13 rebounds too. Plumlee was the recipient to Jason Terry's 5,000^th career assists on an alley oop. Plumlee was also a factor on the defensive end, as he recorded two blocks, one being a ferocious swat off a Jeff Withy shot, and also had three steals to round out the best game of his career thus far.

Positives:

Plumlee wasn’t alone having a great game off the bench, as Mirza Teletovic had a great game as well. Teletovic was able to record a double-double despite struggling from three-point land, where he went just one from eight. He finished with 13 points on four for 12 shooting, and grabbed 11 rebounds. Alan Anderson also scored very well off the bench, as he added 13 points on five for nine shooting. The Nets bench finished with 59 points combined, easily outscoring their starters.

What gave the Nets such a huge lead going into halftime, was their excellent defense against the Pelicans. A 14-point first quarter was followed up by a 14-point second quarter for the Pelicans, who entered the locker room trailing 51-28. amazingly for the first time in Nets history they won a game with no starter scoring in double-digits, which shows how great the defense was, and how well the bench played on Sunday night.

Negatives:

The third quarter was a scary one for the Nets, as they started it with a 23-point lead that they quickly saw vanish. The Pelicans were able to cut the huge deficit down to a manageable 11-point game heading into the fourth, and if it wasn’t for the Nets bench getting into the game, it may have been a single-digit game heading into the fourth. The fourth quarter the Nets were able to play much better defense after allowing more points in the third quarter than they did in the entire first half, and held on to a 12-point victory.

The best player on the court by far for New Orleans was last years number one overall pick Anthony Davis, who had a great game despite the rest of his team playing so poorly. Davis finished with a game-high 24 points on 11 for 19 shooting, with nine rebounds, three steals, two assists, and one block. If Eric Gordon was ever able to provide some help for Davis this could have been a much different game for the Pelicans.

Next up for the Nets will be a few days off before playing the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday in Brooklyn.

Read More

Tim Hardaway Jr. Named to 2014 BBVA Compass Rising Stars Pool

arizonasports.com

NBA All-Star weekend brings out stars and celebrities from all different genres. From the 3-point contest to Slam Dunk competition, there are names to be made on numerous different platforms for NBA players. One aspect of All-Star weekend that is overlooked is the BBVA Compass Rising Star Challenge.

The Rising Star Challenge pits NBA rookies and second year players in a game to showcase the best youngsters in the NBA. The game used to pit the Rookies and Sophomores against each other, but the newest format places players from both years in a pool as TNT personalities will instead draft teams to play against each other. It is a glorified pick-up game but one that up-and-coming NBA players could make a name for themselves in as it is the only time younger players get a chance to show off their talents.

This season the New York Knicks will be represented in the game once again by Tim Hardaway Jr. For a team that has drafted as poorly and held onto younger players as infrequently as the Knicks, they have been well represented in the past couple of seasons. In 2012 Jeremy Lin and Landry Fields both partook for the Knicks, Fields a multiple time participant as he was also named to the team as a rookie in 2011. Danilo Gallinari preceded them in 2010, Wilson Chandler in 2009, David Lee in 2007 and both Channing Frye and Nate Robinson participated in 2006.

Getty Images

Hardaway Jr. is well deserving of a place in the player pool this season, averaging 8.6 points on 45.9 percent shooting from the field, 40.9 percent from behind the three point line and 82.5 from the foul line. Amongst qualifying rookies, Hardaway Jr. ranks fourth in scoring, second in shooting percentage, second in three point shooting percentage and fourth in free throw percentage. Hardaway Jr., who was the 24^th overall pick in the 2013 Draft, looks to have been a steal for the Knicks and someone worth keeping onto for the long haul.

Hardaway Jr. will be joined by 17 other players for the Rising Stars Challenge; Steven Adams, Rookie, Oklahoma City Thunder; Pero Antic, Rookie, Atlanta Hawks; Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rookie, Milwaukee Bucks; Harrison Barnes, Sophomore, Golden State Warriors; Bradley Beal, Sophomore, Washington Wizards; Trey Burke, Rookie, Utah Jazz; Michael Carter-Williams, Rookie, Philadelphia 76ers; Anthony Davis, Sophomore, New Orleans Pelicans; Andre Drummond, Sophomore, Detroit Pistons; Terrence Jones, Sophomore, Houston Rockets; Damian Lillard, Sophomore, Portland Trail Blazers; Victor Oladipo, Rookie, Orlando Magic; Kelly Olynyk, Rookie, Boston Celtics; Mason Plumlee, Rookie, Brooklyn Nets; Jared Sullinger, Sophomore, Boston Celtics; Jonas Valanciunas, Sophomore, Toronto Raptors; Dion Waiters, Sophomore, Cleveland Cavaliers.

Taking a closer look at the list you will be able to reinforce what many people were saying about the 2013 NBA Draft Class being one of the weakest ones ever. Notice that nine lottery picks, Anthony Bennett, Otto Porter, Cody Zeller, Alex Len, Nerlens Noel, Ben McLemore, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, C.J. McCollum and Shabazz Muhammad are all absent from the pool.

Read More

Building Blocks: The New Orleans Pelicans

Written By Clevis Murray


The New Orleans Pelicans are 15-17 entering Sunday, January 5th 2014 and are currently 11th in the NBA's Western Conference.  The new look Pelicans are underachieving this season with a young core consisting of Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans and Anthony Davis. All four of the players with the exception of Davis were at one point the best players on their former teams and thought of as potential All-Stars and possibly superstar players in the NBA.

Jrue Holiday was named an All-Star in 2013 while playing with the Philadelphia 76ers and had the best season of his young career averaging 17.7 points and 8 assists per game.  Holiday was on his way to stardom until surprisingly being traded on draft day to the Pelicans.  Anthony Davis will most likely be named a 2014 All-Star with a tremendous sophomore season averaging 19.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.2 blocks (leads NBA) & 1.4 steals per game.  Eric Gordon was drafted in 2008 by the Clippers and was a tremendous scorer in his tenure with the team but was plagued by injuries since his second season and has not become the player most thought he would become.  Tyreke Evans, who was originally drafted in 2009 by the Sacramento Kings, had one of the best rookie seasons in NBA history joining the company of Oscar Robertson, LeBron James and Michael Jordan. With the arrival of Ben McLemore in the summer of 2013 his departure from Sac-town was virtually guaranteed.

With a core like the one mentioned above, the Pelicans could be called a poor man's super team with the relatively young ages of their players.  Nonetheless the Pelicans also has a coach who is often compared to Doc Rivers in Monty Williams.  With the Pelicans having their core and coach of the future along with a solid role player in Ryan Anderson and interchangeable parts it can be expected the Pelicans will become contenders in the near future and are bound for a playoff run once the players are better acclimated with one another.

At this point in time, the Pelicans are searching for an identity.  The disadvantage of having such a young team filled mostly with isolation players comes in the form of the competition.  The likes of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets are accustomed to playing more of team orientated style of play.  One can't forget about the veteran Spurs who are allergic to losing and have an addiction to winning 50+ games each season for the past decade and have a young player who is bound to become a star in Kawhi Leonard when he is given more playing time.

In the NBA, teams must crawl before they walk and the Pelicans are currently in the stage of learning how to walk alongside of the other contenders in the Western Conference.  The building blocks of success are definitely in place and the foundation of the franchise is solid with the Benson Ownership group as well as a capable front office.  The New Orleans Pelicans are slowly and before our eyes becoming a force in the NBA they may have to be reckoned with for many years to come. 

Twitter: NBAFLASHNEWS
Facebook: NBA Flash News 

Read More