Despite a comeback attempt that spanned much of the fourth quarter, San Antonio was ultimately waylaid by one of its worst shooting efforts of the new year. The Pelicans also showcased superior mettle
and execution to go ahead by as much as 20 before holding on for the road win. Despite getting 17 early free throws, San Antonio converted only 10 of them, and finished 19-for-32, including four straight bricks in the closing moments. New Orleans created countless second chances, getting to more 50/50 balls and securing offensive rebounds, and overpowered the Spurs with their physicality and defensive pressure in the process.
San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama (16 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 blocks) struggled with the brute force of his Pelicans’ counterparts, while receiving spirited efforts off the bench from Devin Vassell (13 points) and Keldon Johnson 15 points).
The Pelicans were led by identical statlines from Zion Williamson (24 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists) and Saddiq Bey (24 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists)). Trey Murphy III (12 points and 7 assists) and Yves Missi (10 points, 14 rebounds, and 2 blocks) when it mattered to help New Orleans get and keep a strangehold on the game.
The teams struggled through a roughshod first quarter, where New Orlean’s Bey put up almost half of his team’s points, and outside of Fox’s couple of buckets, the heavily-favored Spurs could not create any real separation. Guards Dylan Harper and Vassell hit back-to-back transition baskets to make it a 3-point game. Highly-coveted trade target Murphy III and rookie Fears supplied the bulk of the offense for New Orleans. Despite getting outplayed for much of the first, San Antonio still led 28-25.
San Antonio continued to see a lot of shots meekly fall off the trip to start the second. The Pelicans capitalized on the offensive ineptitude with two Jose Alvarado triples and a monstrous Williamson dunk. The Spurs struggled to find any flow offensively despite re-taking the lead for a few moments, and behind Williamson’s power and Fears’ daring, New Orleans took command of the sloppy game. Williamson’s and-1 put the Pelicans ahead by nine at the break.
Emboldened by that first half, Williamson continued to wreak havoc on Wembanyama as the primary defender and the Spurs with two lay-ups. The Pelican’s 16-6 run put them up 19 rather quickly and San Antonio went to their bench for most of the remaining minutes in the frame. The Spurs could not knock down shots to make it a single-digit game.
Observations
- The Pelicans broadcast made it seem like there were eight Spurs out there against them.
- The 31-14 record makes me think of the 2002-2003 ‘ahead of their time’ campaign.
- I haven’t looked at the shot chart, but there’s particular spots where Fox’s three-ball looks more solid (left wing being one)
- It’s either going to be “Devin Vassell!!!!“ or “DEVIN VASSELL!?!!!@#$!@#%” tonight
- Too many “settling-for-this-three 3’s” for Wembanyama.
- When did this version of Bey materialize?
- Late in the third quarter, Harper couldn’t convert a contested layup, but then trailed the play for nearly 15 seconds. Not okay.
- Slow and Steady Sequence of the Game #1: Late in the first period and after what seemed like the fourth botched Pelicans fast break, it went Fox, Vassell, Fox, then Kornet for a reverse deep in the paint.
- Crunch Time Sequence of the Game #2: Missi was turned away at the rim by Wembanyama and then double-dribbled to turn the ball back to the Spurs.
Game Rundown
As part of a solid 8-2 San Antonio start, Castle picked Queen clean and got himself a transition dunk. Bey had New Orleans’ first six. Fox’s second three put the Spurs up 11-6. Wembanyama smartly drew a second foul on Queen on an dunk-and-1. Bey’s three brought him to a quick nine points. San Antonio’s reserve guards cobbled together a 6-0 run. The teams traded baskets with New Orleans’ (Fears) and San Antonio’s (Harper) rookies impressing with their driving and finishing skills. The Spurs left the first up 28-25.
During an opening 12-5 run to start the second, the only thing stopping New Orleans was two offensive fouls – including Queen’s third. Barnes hit a corner three along with Champagnie’s freebies (not an easy thing given the putrid 5-for-11 from the line prior ro this point) put San Antonio back up. The Pelicans’ clumsy defense (and 4 fouls on Karlo Matkovic) put the hosts in the foul bonus halfway through, but the Spurs could not find their touch from 15 feet away. Williamson attacked Wembanyama on the dribble-drive to create a handful of opportunities, and Murphy’s three put the Pelicans up eight. New Orleans caught fire in their halfcourt offense to get it to 56-47.
After the Pelicans’ 16-6 opening salvo, Coach Mitch Johnson did a hockey substitution, and Carter Bryant hit two threes shortly after. Vassell hit an open three and forced a Pelicans turnover. Despite there being several opportunities to shave the deficit further, San Antonio still trailed 14 going to the fourth with a buzzer-beating Vassell attempt trickling off the rim after going halfway down.
For the Pelicans fan’s perspective, please visit The Bird Writes.
I think I wrote this last game I did, but San Antonio heads east on I-10 for a chance at regular season redemption against Kevin Durant and the Houston Rockets Wednesday night at 8:30 PM CDT on ESPN.
