Photo by Stephen Lew-Imagn Images/Reuters; Logos via sportslogos.net
The New Orleans Pelicans returned home on Wednesday evening to play the 2-8 Brooklyn Nets. Zion Williamson returned after resting last game, but he was nowhere near enough for the Pelicans to extinguish their losing streak to four as they fell 145-111 to drop to 4-8 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
New Orleans had a short-lived lead, scoring the first four points with a Zion Williamson layup and a Dejounte Murray 11-foot pull-up jumper, and were up 5-3 through the first 90 seconds. Everything fell apart for the Pelicans after that.
Brooklyn then went on a 17-5 run midway through the first quarter as Michael Porter Jr. caught fire from the midrange. MPJ and Julius Randle each scored six during the run as New Orleans turned the ball over twice. Danny Wolf was also a force on defense on the Nets as he blocked multiple shots in the paint; one on Williamson and the other on Herb Jones.
New Orleans tried to cut into the deficit, but Brooklyn responded with a flurry of three-pointers and held a 14-point lead through the first twelve minutes.
The Pels picked up the pace and scored 41 points in the second quarter; the issue was that the Nets scored 44 themselves.
Derik Queen, Saddiq Bey, and Jordan Poole all contributed to scoring early on in the quarter to cut it down to single digits, only for Brooklyn to respond and rebuild their lead. The point differential from that point through the end of the second was never lower than 11 and never higher than 17, an overall back-and-forth quarter.
Williamson scored the majority of the team’s points through the final 7:43 of the first half, hitting a three in the process. That was one of four shots made from behind the arc for New Orleans, including an and-one three by Bey. The Pels went into the half, though, down 83-66.
Brooklyn didn’t let up coming out of the break by catching fire from behind the arc. Porter Jr., Day’Ron Sharpe, and Egor Demin combined to knock down five shots from behind the arc through the first 6:43 of the quarter. Noah Clowney also made one late in the period with Moritz Wagner assisting on the play.
New Orleans struggled in the third quarter, scoring just 15 points while the Nets continued to build on their lead. The Pelicans made just five shots, all 11 feet and closer to the basket, and missed eight shots from three-point range. Williamson made two of those shots with both being in the paint.
The fourth quarter was no different. The Pels ran out of gas as they were in too big a hole to climb out. The team’s largest deficit of 41 occurred with less than three and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter. Jaron Pierre Jr., Bryce McGowens, and AJ Johnson finished the game with a 12-5 run for New Orleans in the closing minutes to make the final score more respectable, but suffered their eighth loss of the season in a 145-111 game.
BIG NUMBER: 57
Brooklyn had no trouble putting the ball through the hoop on Wednesday. As a team, the Nets shot 57% from the floor, 49% from three-point range with 20 makes, and out-rebounded New Orleans 42-28. The 145 points allowed were the most so far this season and now the fourth game this season that the Pelicans have surrendered at least 135 points in a game.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Michael Porter Jr.
It was a healthy dose of scoring all around for Brooklyn, but MPJ was tied for first on the team in scoring with 22, much like Egor Demin. Demin had a better shooting percentage, going 5/8 and 4/6 from deep, but Porter Jr. grabbed six rebounds and had three assists as the Pelicans lost 145-111.
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