We can finally say that the NBA is officially back. The Utah Jazz beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 106-104, in what was definitely a thriller. The Pelicans started well, but lost the plot in the second half. Sadly for them, Zion Williamson was on a minutes restriction and that hurt them. Coach Alvin Gentry talked bout his situation in the post-game press conference.

Zion wasn’t able to play more than 15 minutes. So Gentry wasn’t happy about that. He said, “We wish we could have played him down the stretch but we had to use the minutes that was given to us. We weren’t going to stick him back out there. I thought he looked good and had some good moments. Obviously we’re a much better, much different basketball team when he’s out on the floor.”

Despite playing just 15 minutes, he was able to score 6/8 and showed how dangerous he can be when he fully returns.

New Orleans Pelicans hurt by turnovers

Gentry was also asked about his team’s excessive turnovers. Although both teams had 20 each, Pelicans had eight just in the third quarter and they suffered because of it. “We did that against a team that is 30th in the league in forcing turnovers,” Gentry said. “We shot ourselves in the foot for the most part. They’re a good solid defensive team. But you can’t turn over the ball 21 times.”

Gentry admitted it was the second half that let them down. “I thought we played a really good first half with the ball movement and we still managed our turnovers pretty good. But in the third quarter, we let it get away from us. I think we had 8 in the third quarter.”

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The Pelicans were up by 12 at half time. But Jazz turned it up in the second quarter and slowly caught up with the Pelicans. The game was tied with less than 10 seconds to go, and Jazz star Rudy Gobert made two clutch free throws. The Pelicans weren’t able to score off their inbound, and the Jazz walked away with the win.

The Pelicans wouldn’t be too upset with their performance except for the turnovers. Brandon Ingram showed he’s ready for that max contract after putting in yet another good performance. Often called a young Kevin Durant, he was appreciated by the Slim Reaper on Twitter during the game.

With seven more games to go, the Pelicans will be locked in to get that final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Sources:

Kevin Durant on Twitter

NBA.com