Spurs vs. Pelicans recap: The good, the bad and the Lonzo Ball

The Pelicans took the floor at the Smoothie King Center for the first time this season and edged the San Antonio Spurs to improve to 2-1 on the season, despite a rough shooting night.

Both teams got off to an awful start shooting the basketball, but New Orleans’ offense was almost non-existent in the first quarter. The Pelicans shot 1-for-12 from three in the period, and made just six shots in the first quarter.

A solid defensive effort kept the Pelicans in the game, and they took control of the game with an excellent performance in the third quarter. The Spurs got back into the game with a late 21-3 run, but the Pelicans held on to win 98-95.

Here’s the good, the bad and the Lonzo Ball from Sunday night’s win:

Led by the efforts of big man Steven Adams under the rim, the Pelicans’ defensive effort kept them in the game early, and allowed them to maintain a lead in the second half despite a few cold stretches on offense. New Orleans held San Antonio’s star duo of DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge to just 12 points combined, and forced a Spurs shooting percentage of 42.7.

The Pelicans have also struggled with turnovers early in the season, with 24 against the Raptors and 19 against the Heat on Christmas Day, but finished with just eight on Sunday to have a margin of +7 over the Spurs. In a close game, that made the difference.

The Pelicans beat a Gregg Popovich-coached team while shooting 38.3 percent from the floor and 20.8 percent from deep. It’s not a model that will produce many wins over the course of a season, but it speaks to the Pelicans’ improvement on defense.

New Orleans made only five threes and were outscored from three by 18 points. J.J. Redick had an uncharacteristically terrible night, going 0-for-6, and the Pelicans’ offense stagnated late in the third while Redick was missing repeatedly to allow San Antonio back into the game. Lonzo Ball and Eric Bledsoe each went 1-for-5 from three, which didn’t help matters.

We’ve touched on Lonzo’s shaky outside shooting night, but he was effective in all other aspects, finishing the game with 16 points (on 6-of-9 shooting inside the arc), eight rebounds, five assists and five steals. When his shot wasn’t falling from deep early, Ball attacked the basket to create high-percentage scoring opportunities for himself, or easy buckets for his teammates.