The Pelicans earned their second win of the season with a 121-99 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. After starting the season 0-4, the Pelicans secured two much-needed wins to regain momentum after a horrendous opening week. The nearly wire-to-wire victory came on a night when New Orleans was without Yves Missi, Jordan Poole, and Dejounte Murray.
The Pelicans employed the same lineup that saw plenty of success against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday. That meant a second straight start for forward Herb Jones, who averaged just 16 minutes per game before Thursday.
Saddiq Bey led the Pelicans with a game-high 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting. Jeremiah Fears had another strong performance after his career night on Thursday night. The former Oklahoma standout poured in 20 points, along with 7 assists and 5 rebounds, in the victory. Still, not everything was rosy.
Here is one clear positive and negative from the victory against the Hawks.
The Pelicans were once again aggressive on the defensive attack Saturday night, forcing 15 steals and scoring 34 points off turnovers. Coming into the game, New Orleans ranked second in the league in steals, with 13.4 per game. Last season, the team ranked in the Top 10, and head coach Jamahl Mosley felt his team could be even better this year .
One of the major surprises in the team's success in this category is star forward Zion Williamson.
Zion Williamson played a major role in the Pelicans' defensive success on Saturday. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Williamson actually leads the league in steals this season, averaging 3.2 per contest. The former No. 1 overall pick had three more steals Saturday night, helping to lead the Pelicans' disruptive defense. With the team's offense still trying to find its footing, creating easy points through steals and opponent turnovers has been key to keeping New Orleans in games so far this season.
Mosley said this would be an emphasis this season, and the Pelicans are executing it nearly perfectly.
The Pelicans' 22-point victory comes as a shock, given they attempted just 17 three-point shots on the night.
Over six games, New Orleans ranks last in the league in attempts from beyond the arc, averaging just 28 shots from deep per game. This has been an ongoing issue for the organization for a couple of years, but the Pelicans didn't address it properly in the offseason. Trey Murphy III remains one of their only consistent, viable distance shooter on the team .
Not only are the Pelicans attempting fewer threes than last season, but they are shooting a worse percentage than a year ago. The Pelicans are shooting 31% from beyond the arc. The combination of low-percentage shooting and low-volume attempts puts enormous pressure on guys like Zion Williamson, Derik Queen, and Jeremiah Fears to be efficient when driving to the basket . Most nights, the Pelicans are at a math disadvantage when trading twos for threes.
Currently, the Pelicans are about a minus-12 nightly in the three-point category. On nights when New Orleans isn't generating steals for easy baskets, the three-point disparity puts them at a clear disadvantage.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/pelicans/onsi as One Clear Positive and Negative From Pelicans' Win vs Hawks .
