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Jahlil Okafor had 27 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks as the New Orleans Pelicans upset the Houston Rockets 121-116 on Tuesday at Toyota Center in Houston.
James Harden had 37 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals for the 29-21 Rockets. The 23-28 Pels snapped a three-game losing skid.
New Orleans played without Anthony Davis, Julius Randle and Nikola Mirotic, each of whom were sidelined with injuries.
Jahlil Okafor Gives Pelicans Hope Amid Anthony Davis Drama
The following were Okafor’s 2017-18 stats two years after the Philadelphia 76ers drafted him third overall: 6.3 points and 3.0 rebounds in 12.6 minutes per game.
The following are Okafor’s 2018-19 stats over his past five contests since he entered the starting lineup for Davis: 21.2 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in 33.0 minutes per game.
Davis’ days with the Pels are numbered after he requested a trade over the weekend, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. But Okafor may be able to give the Pels life after AD.
With starting center Clint Capela out with a thumb injury, the Rockets are playing small with 6’8″ Kenneth Faried and 6’6″ PJ Tucker manning the paint. But during the Pelicans’ upset win Tuesday, Okafor made the Rockets pay.
On Twitter, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com called Okafor “the best player on the floor” through three quarters. Jay King of The Athletic praised his work ethic, citing his improved shape and skill set. Trevor Lane of Lakers Nation even praised Okafor’s defense against Harden on one sequence.
It’s only been five games, and Okafor’s chances of ever having a Davis-like impact seem remote at best. But he is starting to look like a long-term answer down low for the Pels, who have a lot of questions to figure out as they move on without Davis.
Clint Capela’s Absence Proves He’s Rockets’ 2nd-Most Important Player
The Rockets have stayed afloat without Capela, going 5-3 since he was sidelined with a torn right thumb ligament. But the common thread in the three defeats is hard to ignore.
In a 145-142 loss to Brooklyn on Jan. 16, Nets starting center Jarrett Allen had 20 points and 24 boards.
Five days later, Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid had 32 points and 14 boards in 27 minutes in a 121-93 victory.
Including Okafor, the opposing starting centers in the Rockets’ last three losses have averaged 26.3 points and 16.7 rebounds.
Faried, who recently signed with Houston as a free agent, wasn’t around for the loss against the Nets. He’s a vacuum cleaner on the boards and has shown a good rapport with Harden for easy buckets.
However, larger bigs like Okafor can give Faried problems. He did have 19 points and 11 boards Tuesday, but he also can’t play all 48 minutes, which led to PJ Tucker seeing some time at center.
The Pels outscored the Rockets 70-40 in the paint and outrebounded them 55-45. Those figures are irrelevant when Harden, Eric Gordon and others are draining three-pointers with aplomb, but against the Pelicans, the Rockets shot only 39.6 percent from the field.
Faried can hold down the fort for now and should be an excellent backup when Capela returns. But the Rockets need Capela at 100 percent for any shot to make a deep playoff run. According to Basketball Reference, the 7-footer is first on the team in offensive rating, second in win shares/48 minutes and second in player efficiency rating. He’s also made 63.1 percent of his shots this season.
Nine-time All-Star Chris Paul is an excellent floor general and defender who will go into the Basketball Hall of Fame someday. The team needs him healthy down the stretch to have a shot at making a deep playoff run as well. But the Rockets have sorely missed Capela in their last three losses, and they won’t go far without him come mid-April.
What’s Next?
Both teams face the Denver Nuggets next. New Orleans will host them on Wednesday, and Houston will play at Denver on Friday.
from Viral News Show http://bit.ly/2Rq5Hpw
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