Down four starters, the New Orleans Pelicans turned to a host of players on Monday that had found themselves shuffled out of the rotation in recent weeks. Most notably, Jahlil Okafor and Nicolo Melli moved into the starting lineup and made positive impacts and were key pieces in the victory.
After the game, Ball talked about the contributions the Pelicans got from not just Melli and Okafor but multiple other players off the bench.
“This is a long season we play. Guys have to step up at any given time and that’s what happened tonight.
“When their name was called, I think you saw tonight people stepped up and they were comfortable. Nobody was out there playing scared or anything. They came in even if they haven’t been playing too much lately…and played big minutes for us.”
Okafor set the tone early on the night, scoring early and often in the paint against one of the best traditional big men in the league in Andre Drummond. Okafor had 11 points in the first quarter and eventually tallied 23 points and 11 rebounds through the opening three periods.
As impressive, though, was the work Okafor did on the other end as Drummond shot just 5-of-14 from the field with 10 points and 11 rebounds through the first three periods. Okafor’s play was so effective that Drummond did not play in the fourth quarter or overtime.
Ball noted the importance of Okafor getting the Pelicans off to a fast and strong start on the night.
Anytime we can just throw the ball in and get two points, we’re going to take that. Jah set the tone getting in the paint early for us and scoring easy buckets so we just kept going to him.
While Okafor was the primary focus on offense, Melli was as important on the night. The forward scored 16 points through the opening three quarters and scored twice in the extra session, including the dagger on a turnaround fadeaway.
He was very confident today, especially that last shot he hit. I thought he was going to catch and shoot it but he did the Kobe fade. He played great tonight.
On a night when their depth was tested, the Pelicans answered the bell and came away with a huge win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
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