The New Orleans Pelicans (22-20) have won their first half against New York Knicks (19-23) despite a disastrous first half after a 19-point gap. The team around an outstanding Anthony Davis turned up in the final phase and secured a 123:118 victory after extra time. The great closing phase compensated for a previously faulty game.
The first big highlight was provided by Enes Kanter after only 2 minutes. After DeMarcus’ cousins had lost the ball completely unnecessarily, the Turk was stuck in the fastbreak over Boogie – the guards were there immediately. Meanwhile, the Pelicans did not come into play at all. Their attack was too static and often ended with difficult throws. The result was a 21.7 percent throw rate after 12 minutes, the 29:13-kink lead was logical.
In the second quarter, the guests acted with much more prudence and consistency in the setplay. They managed a fast 10:2 run, which made the gap look a little harmless. But: Boogie in particular made too many mistakes as a playmaker, which made it easy for the Knicks to stay in front and to move on with their own run just before the break. Despite a Buzzer Beaters by Anthony Davis it stood 57:48 for the break tea.
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After the change of sides it looked as if the guests could increase further. But again they lost their focus and fell into old patterns consisting of wild throws and bad passes. At the Knicks, Kristap’s Porzingis took on responsibility (11 points in the third quarter) and kept the Knicks on course. On the other hand, Anthony Davis had to give the solo entertainer. With 96:82 it went into the final section.
But the pels remained tough. A threesome from Jrue Holiday shortened to 93:100, which is why coach Hornacek sent his starting five to the field early on. But the Defense New Orleans’ was now much more intensive on the road and hardly allowed for easy throws. In this phase, the Knicks could be seen thinking about their shrinking leadership, and Porz also increasingly bounced off Davis. From this the guests generated self-confidence and finally met several more litters in a row. At 1:07 minutes, cousins blew in a leaper for 107:109 from a pels point of view. A short time later, the refs missed out on a more obvious foul of AD – Davis was rightly completely upset. Luckily for him, the referees apparently had a guilty conscience and renounced a technical one.
But since the Knicks also ran out empty-handed, the Pelicans had another chance at 9.9 seconds. The ball went to cousins at the high post, which Davis served on the board. He equalized the game at 3.3 seconds on the clock. Then it got strange: Pels-Guard Ian Clark stole the ball from the Knicks on the other side, sprinted forward and took a threesome, but it didn’t go in. Overtime!
In this one, Cousins provided the first ever Pelicans leadership (113:112) by tip-in. After several leadership changes AD met a strong fadeaway over Porzingis. Hardaway missed a free-throw and the Pels secured another Possession after a miss. But the fouled Davis stayed on the line with only one goal, 121:118 New Orleans with 17.5 seconds left. The Knicks played Porzini’s three-line free after a time-out, but his throw bounced off the ring. The subsequently fouled Holiday made the decision with his freebies. The cars thus made a comeback victory after 19 points behind – and the great end compensated for three weak quarters in Madison Square Garden.
Davis was the star of the evening with 48 points (17/30 FG), 17 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 blocks, Holiday supported with 31 points and compensated for the average performance of cousins (15 points, 4/16 FG, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 7 steals, 3 blocks, 5 TO). On the other hand, Porzingis scored 25 points – of which only three in the fourth quarter plus extra time. Hardaway Jr. also scored 25 points, Jarrett Jack 22.
New York Knicks vs. New Orleans Pelicans: This way to the BOXSCORE!
Anthony Davis. Since his colleague Cousins is weak at least in the conclusion, he gave the solo entertainer for much of the game – and how! He met by stepback threesome, fadeaway, by dark or offensive rebounds. Many of these actions did not reach him against Porzingis, who physically did not see any land against the brow, even on the other side.
Courtney Lee. He disappeared completely in the decisive phase of the game and shied away from responsibility (7 points, 3/10 FG). Especially in the phases when Porzingis had a hard time, the Knicks could have used him well. But he was impressed by the physics of his opponent. Defensively he let himself be eaten several times by Holiday.
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