Leading trio propels Pelicans past Spurs in play-in

It is clear that the New Orleans Pelicans have a big three.

In the Western Conference play-in tournament Wednesday night, that trio looked the part, played the part as New Orleans advanced with a 113-103 win over San Antonio before a frenzied, sellout crowd at Smoothie King Center.

CJ 🤝 B.I. #WBD pic.twitter.com/tMTOYhxHXn

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) April 14, 2022

CJ McCollum was simply fantastic in the first half, pumping in 27 points.

When McCollum drew the focus of the Spurs defensively, Jonas Valanciunas took over in the third quarter with 12 points.

With the game in doubt in the fourth quarter, Brandon Ingram, plagued by foul trouble much of the night, picked his team up and carried them home with eight points in the final 4:33.

The trio was too much for San Antonio to overcome.

San Antonio jumped out to an 8-2 lead early.

Dejounte Murray and Jakob Poeltl each picked up two fouls in the first quarter.

Ingram was aggressive driving to the basket and scored 11 points in the opening quarter.

Herb Jones scored on a reverse layup in the final second to give New Orleans a 26-22 lead after one quarter.

New Orleans had just two turnovers and outrebounded the Spurs 15-10 in the first quarter.

The Pelicans shot 50 percent from the field to just 37 percent for the Spurs.

Murray picked up his third foul with 10:27 to play in the half trying to guard McCollum, who took over the game offensively to start the period. McCollum scored nine points in the first 2:45 of the quarter. Murray missed the rest of the half.

Ingram picked up his third foul with 5:17 to play in the first half. The previous foul called on him was a terrible, ridiculous foul on a post up where he did nothing and, in fact, he was fouled. He sat the remainder of the half.

McCollum finished the half 10 of 12 from the field. McCollum put up 19 points in the second quarter. Ingram had 13 points in just 13 minutes. McCollum outscored the San Antonio starters 27-25 in the half.

Alvarado was huge with 10 points, including 3 of 3 from 3-point range.

Fittingly, Jones, who was brilliant defensively as usual, blocked the final shot of the first half. Earlier, he had a clean block which was called a foul, another brutally bad call.

Ingram picked up his fourth foul with 7:45 to play in the third quarter.

With Ingram out and the defense focusing on McCollum, Jonas Valanciunas, who took just one shot in the first half, stepped up in a huge way, scoring 12 points in the quarter.

The Pelicans built a 21-point lead but the Spurs made their run and pulled within six points at 97-91 with 5:18 to play in the game on a 16-1 run as New Orleans went without a field goal for five minutes and seven seconds.

Ingram knocked down a pair of shots and Valanciunas put one home as well to respond in decisive fashion to give New Orleans a 103-91 lead.

Jones dunked emphatically with 1:10 to play to give the Pelicans a 107-95 lead and Valanciunas dunked with 44 seconds left to put the game away.

Appropriately, the game ended with a steal by Jones, who continues to amaze with his defensive play, improved shooting and overall basketball IQ.

Jones finished with 12 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks.

McCollum scored 32 points with six rebounds and seven assists.

Ingram scored 27 points with five rebounds and five assists in just 30 minutes.

Valanciunas had 22 points with 14 rebounds, three assists and two blocks.

That’s 81 points from the big three of the 113 points scored. That will get it done.

New Orleans finished shooting 54 percent from the field, hammered the Spurs 56-38 in points in the pain and pounded San Antonio 53-34 on the boards.

Devin Vassell did everything to keep the Spurs in the game, making seven shots from 3-point range.

The only negative was bench play as San Antonio reserves outscored New Orleans 33-20 and Alvarado had 12 of those points.

"It was so loud in there, we could barely hear each other," – Green on the atmosphere, win #WBD #Pelicans pic.twitter.com/vwzinrT2Px

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) April 14, 2022

Now, the Pelicans move on to a matchup Friday night against the Los Angeles Clippers.

New Orleans won the season series 3-1 over the Clippers but most recently, the Clippers drilled the Pelicans 119-100 on April 3 in a game that was not that close.

The winner advances to the playoffs to face the top seed and best team in the league in Phoenix.

To have that opportunity, at this stage of development, with its most talented player having not played a second of the season would be special.

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