Everything you need to know about the Pelicans’ 116-113 overtime win over the Celtics in quickie form.
HEADLINES
Anthony Davis puts on a show: The power forward showed why Celtics fans will continue to dream about acquiring the big man in years to come. Davis was an absolute force all night from inside and out, posting game-highs with both 45 points and 16 rebounds (8 offensive) against the NBA’s best defense. On top of the efficient shooting night (16-of-34), the All-Star worked his way to the charity stripe with regularity (15 free-throw attempts). Jrue Holiday added 20 of his 23 points in the second half, which helped the high-powered Pelicans offense (seventh in NBA) escape with a road win.
Crunchtime letdown: The Celtics have been one of the best fourth-quarter teams in the NBA this season and that trend continued for the first ten minutes of the frame on Tuesday night. The hosts erased a 10-point deficit in the quarter with some locked-in defense and managed to build a 101-96 lead with two minutes remaining. However, the Celtics stumbled down the stretch, allowing the Pelicans to race out to an 8-1 run to re-take the lead with under a minute remaining.
Kyrie Irving (team-high 27 points) managed to send the game into overtime with a layup with 11 seconds remaining, but the point guard couldn’t force a second overtime when his potential game-tying 3-pointer was long with five seconds left.
TURNING POINT
TWO UP
Al Horford:
The big man had his issues defending Davis, but so does everyone else in the NBA on most nights. Overall, Horford had a strong all-around effort, tallying 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists in 37 minutes. He was red-hot from 3-point range (4-of-5) and the team would have been better served getting him more involved on offense. He only took nine shots during the entire game, just the sixth highest total on the team.
Daniel Theis:
Theis played 11 of his 20 minutes in the fourth quarter, largely due to his defense. The mobile big man split time guarding DeMarcus Cousins and Davis in the frame and had success slowing down the powerful Pelicans frontcourt. The pair combined for just six points on 1-of-7 shooting in the period, enabling the Celtics to rally from a 10-point deficit and force an overtime period. Theis also hit a big 3-point shot at the top of the key off of a dish from Irving during crunch time.
TWO DOWN
Kyrie Irving:
The point guard has rescued the Celtics on many nights this year, but his play was a detriment to Boston's chances for much of the night. He was red-hot in the third quarter (16 points) but that masked an inefficient shooting night that was full of hero ball and ugly turnovers (team-high six). Irving was 8-of-24 overall and is now shooting just 35 percent from the field in the month of January.
Terry Rozier:
The 23-year-old isn’t afraid of putting up shots and that was bad news for the Celtics offense for most of the night. Rozier was 3-of-11 from the field and 1-of-7 from 3-point range on the night. He saw plenty of action during the fourth quarter against the Pelicans three-guard lineup but his misfires proved costly on a number of wide-open looks that forced the Celtics to play from behind for most of the night.
TOP PLAY
Jaylen Brown
TWO TAKES B-ROBB WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
The Celtics played rusty and out of rhythm in this one:
The Pelicans played just eight players and the Celtics were coming off four days of rest, but the visitors were the more energized team for the better part of this contest. The Celtics committed 18 turnovers and the vast majority of them were of the live-ball variety, which allowed the Pelicans to score 32 points off those miscues. The Celtics failed to get back in transition defense regularly (which shouldn't be an issue for a rested team), which led to a lot of those easy opportunities for New Orleans and that was too much for Boston to overcome on a night Davis was a force as well.
A rare opportunity to second guess Brad Stevens:
The head coach had his hands full against Cousins and Davis and pushed the right button by giving Theis big minutes for much of the fourth quarter to help guard the Pelicans bigs. However, his other lineup decisions proved iffy. Jayson Tatum played just 44 seconds in the fourth quarter, and did not attempt a shot. With the Celtics offense sputtering all night (39 percent shooting), it’s tough to justify having your second top scorer on the bench for so long. The Pelicans were a tough matchup for him with a three-guard lineup, but Stevens couldn’t seem to find the right combo to match up well on both ends with the Pelicans, especially in overtime.
