NBA: Walton’s young Lakers school Pelicans

LOS ANGELES, United States — The Los Angeles Lakers powered past the struggling New Orleans Pelicans 126-99 on Saturday in a reunion for coaches Luke Walton and Alvin Gentry.

Walton and Gentry were both assistants on Steve Kerr’s staff at Golden State when the Warriors won the 2015 title.

And Gentry isn’t surprised that Walton has the young Lakers, demoralized after a franchise worst 17-65 season and learning to live without retired superstar Kobe Bryant, playing buoyant basketball.

“He can relate to anyone,” Gentry said of Walton, who took the Lakers helm this season. “If you’re around him for a whole season, you see how he deals with people, see how much basketball knowledge that he has.

“It doesn’t surprise me what they’re doing. He’ll get the most out of any player he has.

“I know that one of the young guys said ‘I’ll take a bullet for him,'” Gentry said.

“In our profession,” he added with a laugh, “if a player’s willing to take a bullet for you, you’ve accomplished a lot.”

The Lakers notched their fifth win in six games on Saturday, with 23 points from Jordan Clarkson, 22 from D’Angelo Russell and 21 from Lou Williams, who is the league’s leading scorer off the bench.

They took full advantage of an injury scare to Pelicans star Anthony Davis, who had scored 13 straight points as New Orleans trimmed the lead to 63-62 when he came down from a layup clutching his back in agony.

Davis went to the locker room and while he was gone the Lakers out-scored the Pelicans 16-4 to build a 79-64 lead.

Davis returned six minutes later, but even his game-high 34 points — to go with eight rebounds and two blocked shots — weren’t enough.

Davis’s became the ninth player in league history to score 300 points and grab 100 rebounds in his first 10 games of a season.

He joined David Robinson and Shaquille O’Neal as the only players to average 30 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks in the first 10 games — but the Pelicans fell to 1-9.

The Pelicans will try to regroup before hosting Boston on Monday, while the Lakers move straight on to face the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis on Sunday.

Walton said his players are gaining in confidence with every win but said they remain a work in progress.

“Learning to believe in yourselves and learning to close out ballgames is not easy,” he said. “This group of guys is starting to figure that out.” CBB

source: sports.inquirer.net

Clutch Davis leads Pelicans past Suns

NEW ORLEANS — Anthony Davis capped a 32-point, 19-rebound performance with a tiebreaking 3-pointer in the final minute, and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Phoenix Suns 122-116 on Sunday night.

Davis, whose rebound total set a season high, also blocked four shots and had two steals. His last block came with 22 seconds left, when he tapped Mirza Teletovic’s 3-point attempt from the right corner offline. The ball fell to Pelicans guard Ish Smith, and New Orleans held on from there.

Ryan Anderson, who scored 30 in each of his previous two games, had 29 points for New Orleans. Eric Gordon added 20 points, while Smith had 17 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.

Eric Bledsoe scored 29 points for Phoenix, which lost despite hitting 17 3-pointers. Brandon Knight had 19 points, but missed 13 of 18 shots.

Knight, who had scored 30 or more in three of his previous five games, played with a sore ankle. He scored nine of his points from the free-throw line and also had seven assists.

Markief Morris scored 17 points and P.J. Tucker had 12 for the Suns, while Tyson Chandler grabbed 10 rebounds.

Davis came through in the clutch for New Orleans right after a questionable call angered him and coach Alvin Gentry with 2:39 to go. Davis had soared for a rebound and fell coming down when he appeared to be grabbed on the arm by Tucker. But Davis was whistled for a loose-ball foul, leading him and his coach to protest while pointing to replays on the videoboard as the crowd booed the call.

Tucker’s resulting free throws cut New Orleans’ lead to 107-106, but Davis responded with a 20-foot jumper on the next possession.

In the final minute, Davis delivered a late-shot-clock 3 in a tie game. The Suns could not answer on their next possession, and Smith hit a pair of free throws to make it 114-109 with 30 seconds to go.

There were 14 lead changes and six ties in the game. The Pelicans, who led by as many as 11 in the first quarter, briefly fell behind by as many as four points when Bledsoe’s 3 capped a 13-1 run in the second quarter. Anderson’s free throws put the Pelicans back in front, 56-55, at halftime.

New Orleans worked its lead back up to 11 in the third quarter with a 15-2 run that included a pair of 3s by Gordon. But the Suns once again rallied, tying the game at 92 when Bledsoe hit a 3 as he was fouled for a four-point play with 9:57 left.

TIP-INS

Suns: Morris was called for a technical foul in the fourth quarter for arguing with an official who had called a moving pick against him. The resulting free throw gave New Orleans a 95-92 lead with 9:26 left. … Phoenix turned the ball over 15 times, leading to 25 Pelicans points. … The Suns were 29 of 33 from the foul line, with Bledsoe hitting 11 of 12. … Phoenix shot 47.2 percent from 3-point range (17 of 36), but only 38.9 percent (35 of 90) overall.

Pelicans: Jrue Holiday fouled out with 1:13 to go on a foul under the basket on Bledsoe, who hit both free throws to tie it at 109. Holiday and Gentry protested as replays appeared to show a clean block. … Smith hit the back of his head no the scorer’s table when he leapt, off-balance, to grab a loose ball and release it before he landed to avoid a back-court violation. The play resulted in one of Davis’ dunks. … The Pelicans were 33 of 40 on free throws. … Smith has made 18 of his last 19 free throws. … Gordon was 5 of 12 from 3-point range.

UP NEXT

Suns: Visit San Antonio on Monday night.

Pelicans: Visit Phoenix on Wednesday night.

source: sports.inquirer.net