On Friday, the Pelicans learned the hard way the importance of finishing out a game when leading by double digits in the second half. It took all of two days to apply those lessons.
New Orleans’ win over Boston on Sunday was historic but also could serve as a turning point for the Pelicans. The 24-point deficit is the largest overcome in franchise history, and that margin came midway through the third quarter.
The spark for the Hornets was the bulk of their core along with one surprise addition. Down the stretch, Stan Van Gundy stuck with the group of Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson and Nicolo Melli. While the first four are mainstays in the rotation, The 17 minutes from Melli, though, were not only the most since mid-January but was the first extended action he’s had since the end of January.
That five-man grouping played the final 13 minutes of the game together. Unlike the majority of the season, though, the Pelicans excelled on the defensive end. In their time on the court in the fourth and overtime, that group had an 84.6 defensive rating.
“That was a game where there was just, in my mind, the last 15 minutes of that game, you’re coming from way down – down 24 halfway through the third – you’re going to have to go with your guys at the risk they run out of gas,” Van Gundy said, “but you’re down 24 anyway so having them fresh is not going to do you any good so we went with our guys that we thought could get the job. They did a fantastic job of fighting through fatigue and everything else.”
The individual defense of both Hart and Ball, specifically, was outstanding on the night. The duo was matched up against for Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker, respectively, for much of the fourth and overtime and forced them into a combined 4-of-18 shooting.
This may just turn into a Josh Hart Defensive Appreciation thread pic.twitter.com/BIY9avNSBh
— Jacob Rude (@JacobRude) February 22, 2021
The addition of Melli allowed the Pelicans to change up their defensive scheme as well with Melli showing high and doubling on ball screens with Tatum to force the ball out of his hands.
Next possession down is another terrific defensive sequence for the whole Pelicans team. Again, it starts with Melli and Lonzo forcing the ball out of Tatum's hands and throwing Boston's offense out of rhythm from the start pic.twitter.com/wuucLH7FRB
— Jacob Rude (@JacobRude) February 22, 2021
“I think the energy definitely picked up,” Ball said of the defense in the fourth. “We started getting into the ball more. We kind of changed our coverage a little bit on the screens. We started trapping (Tatum) coming off and being in more help when (Brown) got it and Kemba. From top to bottom, I think the staff did a great job making adjustments during the game and we did a good job following the game plan as they made those adjustments.”
“Me and (Hart), we’re looked upon to guard the stars of the other team pretty much night in and night out,” Ball added. “Tonight, we just did our best to slow those guys down the best we could. It’s not just two guys guarding the ball, though. We all came together on that side of the ball and started rebounding and getting in passing lanes and stuff like that and getting out on the break.”
Ball was the primary defender on Walker over the course of the game, forcing him into 1-of-7 shooting overall and 1-of-6 from 3-point range. Hart forced Tatum into 4-of-12 shooting overall as well.
As the defense stepped up and forced stops, the offense turned into heavy doses of Ingram and Williamson as the two leaders of the young Pelicans took over, scoring a combined 28 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
“I think our defense picked up a lot,” Ball said. “We got a little faster on that side of the ball. And on offense, we relied on (Ingram) and (Williamson) to carry us toward the finish line. Tonight was a team effort and we ended up pulling it out.”
Williamson and Ball all played the entirety of the fourth quarter and overtime while Ingram checked in four minutes into the fourth and never checked out, leaving Van Gundy impressed with how his young core handled the extra minutes and responsibility on the night.
“(Zion) handled the workload fine and he did a pretty good job on the defensive end of the floor, too,” he said. “I was really, really happy. That’s what you have to do in this league if you want to be the guys, what he and Brandon did tonight and (Lonzo), the minutes they put in and played through all that…that’s what needed to be done tonight and you have to be able to do it and take on that responsibility and they did it.”
As memorable as the win was, though, Van Gundy said the weekend showed how quickly everything can change in the NBA.
“The last two games are about all the lessons our team needs,” he said. “First of all, every night is a new night in this league. I’m not a big believer in momentum. Momentum is whatever you bring into the game on a given night. Huge collapse in the fourth quarter the other night, huge comeback tonight. Every night’s a new night and you’ve just got to play through everything and keep fighting, play possession by possession by possession. From night to night and from minute to minute in the NBA, things change quickly.
“You can’t get complacent when you’re in a lead because it can go away quickly and you can’t quit playing when you’re behind. Things change very, very quickly in this league in games and in seasons. Just keep fighting.”