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NBA New Orleans Pelicans

New Orleans Pelicans’ Win Over San Antonio Spurs is Just Taste of What Team is Capable Of

By @KellanMiller

Anthony Davis V.s. Boris Diaw

Soobum Im- USA TODAY Sports

Anyone who claims to be a true NBA junkie knows that when the New Orleans Pelicans play the Charlotte Hornets, it is a can’t-miss experience.

Not really, but there has been such a confusing, messy swapping of the tongues between the two organizations that there undoubtedly has to be bad blood. Questions of real or fake rivalries aside, the Pelicans collaborated for an impressive team victory against the Hornets on Wednesday, culminating in a 100-91 win. But the most impressive victory of the team’s week came Saturday night when the Pelicans fended off the San Antonio Spurs for a one-point victory in the final seconds of the game.

I say it again repeatedly — the beauty of the Pelicans’ roster is the versatility factor. Even though it seems weird watching Anthony Davis play night after night without Aloe Blacc’s “The Man” playing in the background, this team is far from a one-man show. The Pelicans’ roster is bursting with young talent that is impressive individually, but much more intimidating when they work together in unison. It is a concept that all NBA teams would like to employ, but very few are successful at implementing. When opposing teams face the Los Angeles Lakers, for instance, there is only one mamba with the license to shoot 37 times.

In the 2014 playoffs, the Spurs proved that the old archaic idea of team basketball still works. In fact, it is the cornerstone of smart basketball. A blazing-hot team during the regular season such as the Oklahoma City Thunder, they are continuously bounced out of the postseason because of a lack of depth. The Miami Heat had the same problem in the Finals, aside from the fact that they didn’t give Derek Fisher a ridiculous amount of minutes.

Attempting to predict a Gregg Popovich starting lineup is like watching an episode of Man Vs. Food on an empty stomach without groceries in your house — pointless and dangerous — but a young Pelicans team still exemplified a calm poise that ultimately sealed the victory. Despite leading most of the game, The Pelicans were threatened when the Spurs rallied an impressive 15-4 run led by Danny Green. Instead of succumbing to pressure, the Pelicans fought back, eventually leading to a last-second layup by Davis with approximately 6.6 seconds remaining. He finished the game with another beastly, MVP-like statline — 27 points and 11 rebounds. Davis was joined by Jrue Holiday, who had 15 points and 11 assists, and Tyreke Evans, who racked up 18 points in another impressive showing.

All that said, there are a lot of overreactions happening extremely early in the season. Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James have not been robbed of their talents by the Monstars, for instance, and the Spurs are still the Spurs despite being destroyed by the Houston Rockets and losing to the Pelicans. Hyperbole is something I talk a lot about, because it is the most common pandemic known to inflict sports fans. But the Pelicans look good, and if this team isn’t completely riddled by injuries like in seasons past, there is no reason to believe they won’t be competing in the playoffs.

When asked about the miserable loss the Spurs’ suffered at the hands of the Rockets, Coach Pop said: “We are a sum-of-the-parts team. We have to have all our parts to be at our best. We can’t rely on one player. We have to do it as a group. If we have injuries, we need our full bench to continue to play at our best.”

The Pelicans are a very similar team on paper, and must continue to adhere to his basic concept of team basketball.

Kellan Miller is a writer for RantSports. Follow him on Twitter @KellanMiller, “like” him on Facebook, or add him on Google Plus.

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