As the second quarter began, the Pelicans had the wind at their backs. They had just scored 37 points on the Celtics with Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum in good form. Except that a match lasts 48 minutes and against Boston, they are sometimes long. Very long…
The second quarter was less successful. The third even less, with eleven small points scored. This is when Jayson Tatum and his teammates will make the difference and win, by gradually suffocating a New Orleans team deprived of air and points.
“We lost the thread a little,” notes the coach Willie Green. “Eleven points in the third quarter. I have to watch the footage again before talking about it, but it's clear that we lost our energy during this sequence. And that makes the difference when you play a big team. »
Three tests in one week
The Pelicans were therefore stuck at 11 points with a terrible 4/23 shooting. Or 17% success. In the last three quarters against the Celtics, they only scored 55 points at 30% shooting success… “Their intensity level increased and we didn’t follow up”notes Zion Williamson. “When we tied with them, the match was already over. It's a great team. »
This match was a perfect foretaste of the playoffs to come, when defenses will take precedence over attacks. As was the case in recent days, against the Thunder and the Bucks. In five days, the Pelicans played three of the league's top five teams.
“These are playoff matches and we like that. Oklahoma, Milwaukee, Boston are big teams,” comments Willie Green. “They were close matches. We were overwhelmed against Boston, but we fought to come back. That's what we want: to have a chance to play against the best teams and see how we stack up against them. »
