The regular season of the new season continues, and the Pelicans of New Orleans do not seem to be playing as expected in the past period. Although they welcomed the return of the champion Zion, injuries to other players in the team followed. Both Ingram and McCollum have been sidelined by injury this season. As a result, the Pelicans have only a 14-11 record so far this season, ranking ninth in the West. Obviously, if this state continues, the Pelicans will lose the chance to get back on track.
And this time, their starting core finally returned to the court and came to Charlotte to challenge the Hornets who were sitting there. It's worth mentioning that as a team that has been teetering on the brink of the playoffs all year round, the Hornets' quality is not ideal. Even though they've gotten some high-quality instant power in recent seasons, they're still not that much on the right track. This season, they can only be the image of a fish belly who has been bullied. And this time at home to accept the Pelicans' challenge, the Hornets were once again deflated, allowing the Pelicans to achieve the final victory.
In the first half of the competition, the Pelicans who played away maintained excellent form, thus widening the difference between the two teams one after another. In the first quarter of the game, Zion shot 3-of-4 and delivered 6 points and 2 rebounds, and other role players on the team were able to blossom more, taking advantage of the situation to play a 21-20 score. Entering the second quarter of the matchup, Zion also had 5 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists, and the starting center Valanciunas even shot 5 of 6 and 2 of 2 free throws, sending 13 points and 3 rebounds of luxury data, which helped the team play a 29-19 score and expand the difference to 11 points.
The Pelicans, who maintained the lead in the score, finally encountered a counterattack from the Hornets. In the third quarter of the game, Rozier found his form, shooting 6 of 9 in a single quarter, delivering 14 points, 1 rebound, 4 assists and 2 steals, and Bridges also contributed 10 points and 1 steal, leading the team to a score of 37-26, bringing the two sides back to the same running line. In the final quarter of the decisive game, the Pelicans scored 36-31 with the help of McCollum's 13 points and 3 rebounds in a single quarter, and Valanciunas scored 7 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, and won a wave of three consecutive victories with a total score of 112-107.
Looking back at the data of the game, the performance of the starters on the Pelicans' side was not very even. During this period, Zion delivered 21 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists, and the data contribution of 11 rebounds in a single game created a new personal season rebounding high. At the same time, McCollum also had 19 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. In addition, starting center Valanciunas, who shot 11-of-16 in a single game, delivered 29 points, 13 rebounds and 4 assists, and his contribution at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends should not be underestimated. Ingram, however, has become a drag bottle.
He shot 3-of-9 from the field in a single game, delivered 8 points, 3 rebounds and 7 assists, but had 9 turnovers, setting a new season high in turnovers. Looking at the Hornets who lost at home, Rozier's performance was still excellent, scoring 4 three-pointers in a single game and delivering 30 points, 4 rebounds and 6 assists. At the same time, Bridges also contributed a double-double of 27 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assists, as well as Miller, who handed over 16 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, and Richards, who had 16 points and 6 rebounds. As far as the facts are concerned, the overall aggressiveness of the Hornets is not bad, and they failed to achieve the final victory. It's a pity.