It’s early in the season, but the New Orleans Pelicans have an opportunity to avenge an earlier loss when the Utah Jazz visit on Wednesday night.
The Pelicans enter their second matchup of the season against the Jazz on a three-game winning streak after having dropped a 120-119 outcome in Salt Lake City fewer than two weeks ago.
Zion Williamson helped New Orleans hand Memphis its first loss on Monday night with 25 points, including nine in overtime of the Pelicans’ 135-134 victory.
“My teammates and coaches trusted me, and I made it happen,” Williamson said after defeating the Grizzlies. “I’m just glad we got our third win in a row. Let’s keep it going.”
Williamson had 23 points in the loss at Utah on Oct. 23. The Jazz will be without their leading scorer from that first game as Jaren Jackson Jr., who had 24 points and 10 rebounds, is out with a torn MCL in his right knee.
The Jazz have struggled since eking out the win over New Orleans. Utah dropped its fifth consecutive game on Monday night, falling 119-97 at San Antonio.
The loss dropped Utah to 1-6, tying the franchise mark for its third-worst start through seven games. The Jazz started the 1974-75 season and the 2013-14 season 0-7.
Lauri Markkanen scored 22 points and had eight rebounds for the Jazz, but they couldn’t overcome 35.4% shooting from the field or being outscored by the Spurs by 26 in the first and third quarters. Utah also only hit three of its first 17 shots.
“Not what we want,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “Especially in the first and third, we had some rough pockets of play, especially on offense. Our decision-making has got to improve.”
Hardy is holding onto some optimism about his young team. The Jazz committed season lows of 11 turnovers and 17 fouls in San Antonio despite the loss.
He also sees improvement in aspects of his youngest player’s game. Rookie Darryn Peterson, who’s only 19 years old, scored 14 points with six assists and four rebounds.
“I believe so much in our team and in our program,” Hardy said. “I know the work that’s going into it. I see things translating onto the court that have been worked on a ton in practice, and we have to be able to sustain that execution for 48 minutes.”
While the Jazz have floundered, the Pelicans have flourished since their early-season meeting.
Jeremiah Fears helped New Orleans keep its win streak intact with a pair of free throws with 7.3 seconds left against Memphis, which had won its first six games and was the NBA’s final undefeated team.
Karlo Matkovic had a career-high 25 points for New Orleans, while Derik Queen scored 20.
Those performances helped the Pelicans overcome the absence of starting guard Dejounte Murray, who missed his third consecutive game for personal reasons, along with Yves Missi and Jordan Poole. Getting contributions from a variety of players bodes well for New Orleans as it attempts to build on its current winning ways.
“We talk about by committee, and it definitely was by committee,” Pelicans coach Jamahl Mosley said. “These guys did an unbelievable job of finding a way to stay poised.”
