2014-2015 New Orleans Pelicans: Keeping It Close

2014-2015 New Orleans Pelicans: Keeping It Close

Formerly the New Orleans Hornets, this NBA franchise would take on a new name beginning with the 2013-2014 NBA season, and that name would be met with some controversy in the sense of how “silly” the name sounded to some critics. The New Orleans Pelicans came into existence, and unlike what critics were thinking this team wasn’t focused on being a joke of any sort. The Pelicans had a solid core of talent in a roster that was very young by NBA standards, and this talent was only going to improve with time.

In the 2014-2015 NBA season the New Orleans Pelicans went 45-37, finishing 11 games behind the Houston Rockets in the Southwest Division. The Pelicans went 28-13 on their home court of the Smoothie King Center while going only 17-24 on the road. The Pelicans went 8-8 in divisional play. Though November wasn’t a good month for them, every other month was very pleasant for the Pelicans as they went 9-8 in December, 9-6 in January, 6-5 in February, 8-7 in March and 6-3 in April.

Power forward Anthony Davis was much more than having an appealing unibrow over his eyes. Davis quickly emerged as one of the better superstars in the NBA. Davis had 1,656 points, 696 rebounds, 149 assists, 100 steals and 200 blocks, making 642 of 1,199 field goal shots and 371 of 461 free throws. Shooting guard Tyreke Evans had 1,313 points, 416 rebounds, 521 assists and 100 steals, making 69 of 227 3-point shots and 202 of 291 free throws. Power forward Ryan Anderson had 833 points, making 122 of 359 3-point shots and 128 of 151 free throws. Shooting guard Eric Gordon had 818 points and 229 assists, making 141 of 315 3-point shots and 107 of 133 free throws.

Point guard Jrue Holiday had 592 points, 274 assists and 63 steals, making 51 of 135 3-point shots and 65 of 76 free throws. Center Omer Asik had 557 points and 748 rebounds, making 213 of 412 field goal shots and 131 of 225 free throws. Center Alexis Ajinca had 443 points and 315 rebounds, making 181 of 329 field goal shots and 81 of 99 free throws. Small forward Quincy Pondexter had 404 points, making 74 of 171 3-point shots and 50 of 66 free throws. Point guard Norris Cole made 28 of 74 3-point shots. Small forward Luke Babbitt made 59 of 115 3-point shots. Shooting guard Austin Rivers made 14 of 50 3-point shots.

The Pelicans would go on a modest 5-game winning streak which began with a 105-91 win over the Miami Heat on February 21, and it would end with a 99-92 win over the Denver Nuggets on March 1. Throughout the regular season the Pelicans had a knack for keeping it close, especially when they went up against some of the better teams in the NBA.

On November 8 at the AT&T Center the Pelicans managed to pull out a close 100-99 victory over the San Antonio Spurs. Anthony Davis had 27 points, 11 rebounds, 4 steals and 6 blocks. Tyreke Evans had 18 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists while making 2 of 4 3-point shots. Jrue Holiday had 15 points, 3 rebounds and 11 assists while making 1 of 2 3-point shots. Eric Gordon had 14 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists while making 2 of 6 3-point shots.

Another fine example of keeping it close would be another close victory the Pelicans obtained, which occurred on December 21 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Pelicans held on to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-99. Davis had a great game as he had 38 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks. Anderson had 14 points while making 3 of 9 3-point shots.

Another example of winning by razor sharp thin margins would be a game where the Pelicans played at home at the Smoothie King Center. On January 25 the Pelicans edged out the Dallas Mavericks 109-106. Davis had 28 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 5 steals. Evans had 24 points and 12 rebounds. Anderson had 18 points and 5 rebounds while making 2 of 3 3-point shots. Gordon had only 9 points but made 3 of 4 3-point shots.

As it was the case in the Western Conference where many good teams would basically beat each other up in the regular season, the Pelicans were not finished with the Oklahoma City Thunder as the teams would get into another close game on February 6. Once again the Pelicans would prevail by a slim margin, beating the Thunder 116-113 at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Anthony Davis had an unbelievable game as he had 41 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists while making a perfect 10 of 10 from the free throw line. Evans had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 16 assists while making 3 of 6 3-point shots. Anderson had 17 points and 4 rebounds while making 2 of 5 3-point shots. Quincy Pondexter had 15 points and made 3 of 5 3-point shots. Unfortunately for the Pelicans, who appeared to be battle tested enough through multiple close games in the regular season, they wouldn’t pass their first test in the playoffs as they would be swept by the Golden State Warriors 4 games to none in the First Round of the Western Conference playoffs. Despite this disappointing outcome most critics were silenced by how well the Pelicans conducted themselves on the court as they strung together a solid regular season resume.