He wasn’t kidding. The biggest beneficiary of the inspired play was none other than Anthony Davis.
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San Antonio is the NBA’s gold standard for stability, and before his Pelicans squared off with the Spurs on Friday night at the Smoothie King Center, New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry lauded their longevity. Maybe then Coach Pop would have given an actual response instead of shaking his head and saying, “We didn’t play well”.
– Omer Asik played just 12 minutes, but I thought his 7 rebounds were important.
Gentry offered praise to Smith, the point guard signed just before the start of the season. “That was special for him to do that”. So when he was down early against the New Orleans Pelicans, he made a decision to kick it into high gear.
Ryan Anderson had 30 points and seven rebounds off the bench, Smith had 13 points and 13 assists, and the Pelicans – the first team this season to lead the Spurs entering the fourth quarter – snapped San Antonio’s six-game winning streak.
“It’s tough, but I definitely have to commend the players and the coach and that coaching staff because those guys always come to play, each and every night”, Walker said.
The Spurs were led by forward Kawhi Leonard with 22 points and Aldridge with 20. Asking “what happened?” following a poor finish to the first quarter by the San Antonio Spurs, unfortunately, isn’t one of those queries.
“Hopefully, we can go further into the postseason and play into June”, Davis said a month before the season. “Seeing our leader make plays like that – dive and get us the ball back”.
“I thought in OKC we started turning the corner”, said Smith, who had 18 points and six assists Wednesday.
Marcus Morris had 16 points and 11 rebounds and the scuffling Pistons grinded out a victory after losing four of their previous five games. But the Pelicans went on a 17-6 run, sparked by Davis’ seven points, to take a 100-88 lead.
“Plays like that kind of get us fired up and kind of got us going”, Davis said. That made it 89-84, and the Pelicans gradually pulled away from there.
It was the first time in 1,343 games that Duncan did not get rebound.
Forward Tim Duncan saw an incredible 18-year streak snapped. The goal is to turn it into the foundation for more.
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“1-11 is enough!” Barry exclaimed on air, referring to the Pelicans’ record to open the 2015-16 regular season. “It’s more so just trying to get a rhythm and put a string of wins together”. I told the guys this is something we have to try to build on though; we don’t need to take a step backwards either.
