New Orleans — After the Pelicans 131-122 win over the Thunder, Head Coach Alvin Gentry was asked how happy he was for Jrue Holiday to have such a good game heading into the NBA All-Star break on the heels of all this team has been through the past few weeks. This is what he said in response:
“I’m happy for all of them,” Gentry said. “To tell you the truth, this whole thing has been a dumpster fire. It’s just hard for guys. We want guys to be professional and we want them to do this but it’s hard for guys to go through what they’ve been through. To be able to come out and beat a team of that quality, I’m happy for all the guys. I just thought that they did a great job.”
Holiday played a tremendous game on both sides of the court for the Pelicans (26-33), playing nearly 39 minutes. He finished with 32 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds.
“I think what really fueled us was knowing we’re going into the break and not having a game like last game,” Holiday said. “Feeling like or even showing the fans like we’re not here to play and do our job.”
Julius Randle was the Pelicans leading scorer though, with 33 points, 11 rebounds, playing nearly the same amount of minutes as Holiday.
“We’ve got a couple days off,” Randle said. “We’ve got to come out, get away, get refreshed. Me personally, I’m going to put my phone away. I’m just going to enjoy my family, get a refreshed renewed mindset and take care of my body and come back and attack the season every game. Anything can happen. We don’t know what can happen but we know we’re going to come out and play hard and be resilient like we have been all year.”
But getting back to the “dumpster fire”… The latest plot twist in the Anthony Davis story line, is that he left the game with a left shoulder injury at halftime. He then left the arena entirely– with his agent Rich Paul– to go get an MRI. Gentry was asked during his post-game press conference if it bothered him that Davis left the building. His presser-ending response?
“Hey guys, I’m going to talk about the guys that played,” Gentry said. “They did a great job. We found a way to win the game. That’s what’s important.”
Then in the locker room, Holiday was asked if he knew Davis was hurt.
“No, I had no clue,” Holiday said. “I didn’t notice until 30 seconds left on the halftime clock.”
Davis had 14 points, 4 rebounds in just under 16 minutes of game action he saw in the first half.