New Orleans Pelicans Making Convincing Strides with Big Test Ahead
 

http://blackandgold.com/images/pixel.gifThe New Orleans Pelicans (3-2) are fighting an uphill battle to validate their status as playoff contenders in the Western Conference, but they took a step in the right direction with a 100-99 win over the San Antonio Spurs (2-3) on Saturday night.

Thanks to Anthony Davis' driving layup on Aron Baynes with 6.6 seconds remaining in regulation, the Pelicans were able to topple the Spurs for the first time in nearly two years while snapping an extended losing streak at AT&T Center, according to Pelicans PR on Twitter:

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"He just made a great play," head coach Monty Williams said of Davis' game-winner, according to NBA.com's Jim Eichenhofer. "We tried to put the ball in his hands, so he can do that."

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Theatrics weren't all Davis contributed, though. In fact, that's just scraping the surface.

In 37 minutes, Davis totaled 27 points (10-of-17 shooting, 7-of-8 from the free-throw line), 11 rebounds, six blocks and four steals. According to Basketball-Reference.com, Davis became the first player in a decade (Elton Brand, 2004) to post those totals in a single game. Outside of Davis and Brand, the only other players to post those single-game totals in league history are Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson.

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As ESPN Stats & Info noted, Davis has stuffed stat sheets like few others in the Association over the past 12 months:

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For those of you keeping score at home, the Pelicans have now won two straight after defeating the Charlotte Hornets 100-99 at home Tuesday night.

And impressive as Davis has been, there have been plenty of other positive performances worth spotlighting through five games.

In all three of their wins thus far, the Pelicans have boasted a minimum of four double-digit scorers, with Tyreke Evans (17.8), Jrue Holiday (14.6) and Ryan Anderson (13.0) operating as New Orleans' most effective complementary scorers.

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Evans in particular has made some encouraging incremental strides as an outside scorer.

Entering Saturday night with a career conversion rate of 27.3 percent from beyond the arc, Evans has shown surprising proficiency as a three-point shooter in a New Orleans offense that's used Davis' versatile skill set to take pressure off outside scorers.

After dropping 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting (2-of-4 from three) Saturday night, Evans is now shooting an unthinkable 47.4 percent from beyond the arc this season.

Then there's Anderson, who entered Saturday evening attempting 30.5 percent of his shots with the closest defender at least six feet away, looks which are classified as "wide-open" according to NBA.com's player tracking data.

After seeing their 2013-14 season derailed early and often by debilitating long-term injuries, the Pelicans are starting to get a taste of what their ceiling may look like.

Owners of back-to-back 100-point performances, the Pelicans' explosive offense is slowly but surely rounding into form, evidenced by some season highs posted on Saturday:

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How about the defense, though?

In order for the Pelicans to truly climb up the conference standings, it's imperative that Williams' squad clamps down and locks opponents up.

A year ago, the Pelicans finished with a defensive rating (points allowed per 100 possessions) of 110.1, good for No. 27 overall according to Basketball-Reference.

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But so far this season, the Pelicans have looked like a completely different unit, allowing just one opponent (Dallas Mavericks) to score 100 points while ranking ninth in defensive rating (100.3) according to NBA.com.

Against San Antonio, New Orleans knocked the Spurs off their game, limiting them to 27.8 percent shooting from three while assisting on only 41.7 percent of their field-goal attempts, which represented a steep decline from San Antonio's season-long mark of 59.9, according to NBA.com.

However, the Pelicans aren't going to get a chance to bask in the glow of their defensive achievements against the defending champions for long.

Up next for New Orleans is a clash with the Cleveland Cavaliers (7 p.m. ET Monday), who are hungry to capture their first home win of the season after spending the last week on the road trying to establish an identity.

But given all we've seen to this point, it's clear New Orleans is going to be a worthy adversary.

According to NBA.com, New Orleans has bested Cleveland by 8.3 points per 100 possessions on defense, propelling the Pelicans to a net rating of plus-0.4 points per 100 possessions. While Cleveland's offense has been superior (102.1 points per 100 possessions), New Orleans doesn't lag far behind with an efficiency rating of 100.8.

If Davis and Co. are up to the task of slowing down Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving and LeBron James with a superlative effort on the glass and some swift ball movement on the perimeter, New Orleans' stock will be trending in a very positive direction entering a delectable two-game stretch against the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Read more New Orleans Pelicans news on BleacherReport.com



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