The third time appears to be the charm for the New Orleans Pelicans, who emerged from their third challenge as the Pels finally victorious. This young franchise took down the Charlotte Bobcats at home in New Orleans' first back-to-back of the season by a score of 105-84.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, Anthony Davis, once again proved why he's the face of the franchise, whether it was teaming up with guard Brian Roberts for a dazzling alley oop or careening onto the scorer's table to prevent a pass from going out of bounds.
"I'm just trying to hustle and do everything I need to do to help my team win," Davis said. "If it's me diving on the floor to save the ball, or making transition buckets, that's what I'm going to do."
Davis had 25 points, eight rebounds, a career-high six blocks and five assists. The University of Kentucky product has scored at least 20 points in each of the Pels first three games and has made 19 of 20 free throws. After an off season spent in the weight room, Davis has added 15 pounds of muscle and grown as much in confidence as he has in physical ability.
New Orleans' offense was relentless Saturday night, finally finding the right rhythm. In their first game of the season Wednesday versus the Indiana Pacers, this young squad came out red hot in the first half, but couldn't sustain the intensity through the second half. Friday night in Orlando, the Pels didn't get going against the Magic until the second half, after only taking a few minutes of rest at halftime. The Pelicans were on the court waiting for then halftime act to finish with more than 9 minutes left in the break, eventually falling by 20 to Orlando, shooting just 34% from the field.
Saturday, it all came together, with the Pelicans setting a franchise record with 18 blocked shots. Fan favorite and veteran center Jason Smith matched his career high with five.
The next test for the youngest franchise in the NBA comes Tuesday, at home, versus the Phoenix Suns.
