The New Orleans Pelicans got their first win of the season Tuesday night, beating the Charlotte Hornets 116-112 in a thriller at the Smoothie King Center. The win snapped a 13-game losing streak dating back to March 30 last season. That win also came against the Charlotte Hornets.
Here are five things we learned about the Pelicans Tuesday night.
1. The Big Treat treated
Rookie forward Derik Queen doesn’t have a nickname yet, but I’m going with The Big Treat for now. It’s a play on what fast food restaurant Dairy Queen calls its treats menu. What a treat is was watching him Tuesday. Without Queen’s fourth quarter performance, the Pelicans would be 0 -7 today. Queen finished with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals. Even more impressive is that almost all of that (12 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals) came in the fourth quarter. “DQ was amazing tonight,” Pelicans’ coach Willie Green said. “We needed every ounce of what he gave us.”
It was Queen’s best game yet in his young NBA career. His steal late in the fourth quarter helped seal it. Joe Dumars traded up in the draft and gave up next year’s first round pick to get Queen. It’s been and will continue be a scrutinized pick. But if Tuesday night was an indication of things to come, that scrutiny could disappear down the road.
2. Jose, Jose, Jose…….
Jose Alvarado hit the biggest shot of the night, burying a 3-pointer with 16.1 seconds to give the Pels’ their first lead since halftime. Good things happened all night when Alvarado was on the court. His +21 in the +/- column tells you all you need to know about his impact on the game on both ends of the court. In addition to his 18 points, he also dished out 6 assists. “He’s all heart,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said about Alvarado after the game.
3. Unsung heroes
Trey Murphy led the Pels with 21 points and knocked down five 3-pointers and deserves his props. But don't forget about the big minutes provided by Karlo Matkovic (13 points and 6 rebounds) and Saadiq Bey (17 points) off the bench. This was by far the best team effort of the season. “Karlo changed the game,” Green said. “Coming in in the first half and his ability to run the floor, block shots, putbacks and 50/50 plays. Him and Saddiq were great. Saddiq hit some shots in the second half. Just a really solid effort collectively by our group.” The Pelicans got 62 points from its bench. The starters scored 54 points.
4. Pels still have some fight
If you think the Pelicans have quit on Green, they haven’t. This was easily a game they could have, especially when the Hornets went on an 11-0 run to start the third quarter. Who could blame if you watched that run and said to yourself “here we go again.” The Pels kept battling until the very end and made winning plays down the stretch. In the grand scheme of things, it was just one win against an opponent the Pelicans were favored against. We'll find out quickly if this momentum spills over. The road gets tough again, starting Wednesday nigh on the road against the Dallas Mavericks. They follow that up with road games against the San Antonio Spurs (Saturday) and the Phoenix Suns (Monday). But at leas they’ve finally tasted a win.
5. Pels fans are resilient, too
No, the arena wasn’t full. There were far more empty seats in the upper level than seats with people in them. But you wouldn’t have known the Pelicans were winless based on the crowd noise at the end. This was a night when you couldn’t have blamed the fans if they decided not to show up. Afterall, it was a Tuesday night. The Pels were struggling. Zion Williamson was ruled out earlier in the day with a hamstring injury that will have him sidelined for at least a week. LaMelo Ball was missing for the Hornets. But there the fans were, as loud as they had been all night when Alvarado’s 3-pointer made its way through the nets. “They were great,” Green said about the crowd. It’s always fun to play in front of our home crowd. We talked about it a little bit. The frustrations and the disappointment. We all feel it. And we just wanted to put forth our best effort. I’m really proud of this group. They carved out a hard-fought win tonight.”