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This could be the most unlikely 117-115 victory in the history of New Orleans pelicans. Alvin Gentry's side managed to defeat the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night (October 26th) at the Smoothie King Center.
As the Nets entered the ball with 21.9 seconds left and leading by one, Anthony Davis said he could hear Gentry screaming foul. But pelicans had trouble doing it.
The Nets continued to pass and the Pelicans missed each player of the Nets.
D'Angelo Russell then made a mistake. Over time, Brooklyn could have simply held the ball and forced the Pelicans to commit a foul. But Russell tried a pass for Caris LeVert because LeVert was retiring from any possible defender.
The pass is out of bounds. Pelicans ball.
Without delay, New Orleans had to work on the fly. So they went to the reliable old: a pick-and-roll Jrue Holiday with Davis. Holiday picked up the ball in the net when Nikola Mirotic brought it back and came out of the screen after receiving a switch with the great Nets man, Jarrett Allen, who was protecting him.
Holiday quietly knocked down a jumper from the free throw line that allowed the Pelicans to go up to 116-115.
"When Anthony tuned the screen, he drew so many people and so I had a very open shot," said Holiday. "And I took it."
The Nets called timeout to set up a game and, when the time lapse was over, Holiday and Solomon Hill headed for the Nets bench. Brooklyn striker Ed Davis displeased Hill's presence and gave him a forearm in the chest in front of a referee.
After a video review, Ed Davis received a technical note and Holiday gave the advantage to New Orleans in advance of 117-115.
Hill said he had learned the tight game of Nets striker Jared Dudley.
"I was just a veteran," Hill said. "They say at the end of the day, do not hate the player, hate the game. I tried to watch their game and one guy put himself in a situation in which he probably should not have put himself. Things are happening. We still have one. It's out of my control. My thing was to worry about the next piece. "
Ed Davis told reporters after the match that Hill was a "certified clown for the flop".
"As I said, it was a silly play on my part," Ed Davis said. "Amuse the clown and that's what happens. I do not think it should be a technology, but you put it in the hands of the referee and he made that call. The clown has won the battle.
Anthony Davis kept the pass to seal the win and send the Pelicans to 4-0.
Gentry said the end of Friday night was the reason you had to keep playing for 48 minutes.
"You never know what's going to happen," said Gentry. "We continued to flake, to flake. It was a very difficult team to face. They have a lot of guys who can get their shot. They run a lot of good things.
"It's really hard to go over the screens and make some shots. We just hung there and continued to reduce it. We found a way to go ahead and AD did a great game on the ball in the end. "
Holiday's bucket at the end of the match – and the technical free throw – was crowned by a 9-0 run for the Pelicans, who held goal-scoreless net for the final at 2:04.
Holiday, who entered the night with less than 32% points and an average of 11.0 points per game, finished with 26 points and five assists. Davis had 18 points, 14 rebounds, five blocks, four steals and three assists.
The Pelicans shot 44.9% of the ground and scored just three three-point goals, compared to 19 in Brooklyn.
Davis said the Pelicans had not had their best offensive night, but thinks the team can still improve, especially in Saturday's meeting with Utah Jazz.
"We continue to play as we do and eliminate some offensives on the defensive, we will only improve," said Davis. "We have another tough game tomorrow against a good team. A team we usually struggle with. It will be difficult for us.
"But in the way we play, with the confidence we have, we feel that we can beat anyone."
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