Pelicans destroy Jazz for fourth straight win

It was stepping up in class for the New Orleans Pelicans.

How would they handle playing one of the better teams and one of the hottest teams in the league?

Utah came in having won nine of its last 10 games and as the highest scoring team in the NBA.

New Orleans moved to the head of the class, outclassing Utah 124-90.

It was never close.

New Orleans went on a 10-0 run to take an early 14-5 lead and would never trail again.

The Pelicans closed out the quarter playing terrific on both ends of the floor, making 14 of 21 shots from the floor and forcing six Utah turnovers to take a commanding 35-17 lead.

Brandon Ingram scored 11 points while Tony Snell came off the bench to score eight points.

Devonte Graham came off the bench to sink a pair of 3-pointers early in the second quarter.

The Pelicans built a 58-28 lead late in the half and took a 65-38 lead by halftime.

Utah, No. 1 in the NBA in offensive efficiency, shot just 14 of 42 from the field (33%) and committed 12 turnovers against the stifling defense of New Orleans in the half.

Ingram finished the half with 17 points, CJ McCollum had 12 points and Snell scored 11 points.

The 27-point lead was the largest halftime lead of the season for the Pelicans and the 38 points in the first half were a season low for Utah.

New Orleans had 17 points off turnovers to just four points off turnovers for Utah.

New Orleans reserves sank 12 of 18 shots from the field and outscored the Utah bench 29-14 in the half.

The Pelicans showed toughness and maturity in the third quarter, not letting up on either end of the floor and built the lead to 95-63 going to the final quarter.

Even with reserves on the floor, the intensity remained as the Pelicans outscored Utah 29-27 in the final quarter. It was very impressive.

How good has Ingram been in his last two games?

In those two games, Ingram made 26 of 35 from the field (74 percent), averaging 31 points and he didn’t even play in the fourth quarter on this night. Ingram added eight rebounds and six assists.

CJ McCollum scored 24 points with five rebounds and four assists. Willy Hernangomez had 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench while Snell scored 11 points and Naji Marshall scored 10 points.

New Orleans got to rest its starters in the final quarter. Ingram played just 30 minutes and no one else played 30 minutes as Willie Green was able to clear the bench and play everyone and everyone scored except for Gary Clark.

The Pelicans shot 51.5 percent from the floor and scored 36 points off 21 Utah turnovers.

Even with Rudy Gobert and Hassan Whiteside, the Pelicans dominated points in the paint by a 58-36 margin.

Herb Jones scored just two points but he had a tremendous impact on the game with his brilliant defense on an elite offensive player in Donovan Mitchell, who scored just 14 points on 5 of 18 shooting.

In their four straight wins, New Orleans has outscored its opponents 489-382, winning by an average of 26.7 points per game.

The Pelicans hit the road for another tough matchup Sunday night at Denver before another very tough game at Memphis next Tuesday night. The Nuggets have won eight of 10 games while the Grizzlies have won seven of 10 and are third in the Western Conference.

We will know a lot more about this New Orleans after that road trip.

If the Pelicans continue to play the way they are playing, getting one of the two is clearly possible and you could not be shocked if they won both games.

It is one thing to beat Sacramento by 30 points.

It is another story to beat Utah by 34 points.

Now 4-0 since the All-Star break, the New Orleans Pelicans are cooking and it tastes so good!