Brandon Ingram still in the infirmary because of knee tendinitis? Zion Williamson rested for the second game of a streak of three games in four nights? No problem for CJ McCollum.
However, the preparation was far from ideal for the Pelicans, who had just overthrown the Thunder in Oklahoma City after erasing a 22-point deficit, but who had to wait to return to Louisiana because of mechanical problems on their plane. They finally returned to New Orleans on the day of the match, for this inevitably tricky back-to-back against the young Pistons.
Not enough to visibly disturb CJ McCollum, author of 25 of his 33 points in the first half to launch his team. Relegated to 25 points (70-45) in the second quarter, the young Pistons will however pick up at the end of the match, coming back below ten points in the last two minutes of the match.
Insufficient, however, to pull off the hold-up. It is therefore a fourth victory (125-116) in five outings for the Pelicans, while the young Pistons suffered their fourth defeat in six games.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– CJ McCollum really takes care of everything. In the absence of Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum was responsible for putting his team on the right track. Author of 33 points at 10/23 shooting, plus 5 assists, he also had fun with a young fan, with a “rock-paper-scissors” in the middle of the match!
– The Pistons’ mistakes. He is often a scorer for young teams, and the Pistons demonstrated it again with a lot of mistakes, which weighed them down. Jalen Duren (5 fouls) suffered against Jonas Valanciunas, but Ausar Thompson (5 fouls) and company were generally punished by the referees.
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Jonas Valanciunas. Apart from CJ McCollum’s first half, we will especially remember the performance of the Lithuanian pivot. Without the Ingram/Zion duo, he touched the ball a lot, to serve as an offensive anchor and especially to make the young interiors opposite, Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart and company, suffer. He finished the match with 23 points on 9/16 shooting, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks!
✅ Matt Ryan. First career start for the shooter, and first card. His 20 points at 6/8 behind the 3-point line greatly helped the Pelicans to have an overall quiet evening.
⛔️ Pistons interiors. Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson were quite clumsy but it was above all the inability of Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart or Marvin Bagley III to hold off against Jonas Valanciunas which allowed New Orleans to quickly get their hands on the encounter.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
