For virtually the entire New Orleans Pelicans roster, the raucous playoff atmosphere inside a sold-out Smoothie King Center for a 113-103 play-in victory over the Spurs was a new experience.
That is, for everyone except one of the team's newest members. CJ McCollum has seen the sea of red in the blender before, back in 2018 when "you all swept us," as he put it. McCollum was a member of the Trail Blazers for that series, a 4-0 sweep for the Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday-led Pelicans that featured a pair of packed-house games in New Orleans.
But even if Wednesday evening's sellout crowd conjured what are likely some bitter memories, McCollum's 32-point effort in a win over the Spurs to set up a date with the Clippers signals something very clear, and undeniably positive, for the veteran guard.
"This is the start of something special, for sure," he said after the win. "You can see the energy, feel the energy. … You can kind of feel the city is starting to be excited about basketball, as they should."
With every Herb Jones steal and dunk. With every Jose Alvarado three. With every Brandon Ingram slam and step back. With every ounce of Jonas Valanciunas bully ball, the crowd erupted. It was so loud that JV joked he had to cover his ears at times. Head coach Willie Green said it even presented a challenge to hear members of his team throughout the game, but in only the most positive of ways.
“That’s what we need," Valanciunas said, "and it’s fun to play in front of this crowd. … It was the loudest it’s been here and we’ve got to keep building on that.”
Ingram said it was the most energy he's witnessed inside the Smoothie King Center during his three years in New Orleans, which coincides with his first trip to postseason play. The next task at hand will be a trip out to Los Angeles for a date with the Clippers, the 8th seed in the official Western Conference playoff bracket on the line.
Related
"There’s a lot of talent here, we’re hungry, we’re playing the game the right way and there’s going to be a lot of winning in our future," McCollum said. "So I think this is indicative of the type of support we’ll have going forward. I’m happy about it. I’m excited. I think … once we get back here I look forward to seeing more sellouts.”
Should the Pelicans get the job done in L.A. to guarantee two more home games in the near future, it'll be a feat achieved by a nucleus of talented veterans in Valanciunas, Ingram and McCollum, but also a trio of rookies that plays far beyond that in Herb Jones, Trey Murphy and Jose Alvarado. At one point all three rookies were on the floor at the same time, a situation that made the rookie coach himself in Green a bit nervous.
But as that group had shown all season, the moment wasn't too big for them. As he's done all season, Jones played lock-down defense and chipped in a dozen points, limiting star San Antonio guard Dejounte Murray to 16 points on 5-of-19 shooting. And Alvarado's spark-plug mentality continued to stand out as he added 12 points of his own. He was as "locked in" as ever in front of the buzzing crowd, but he admits he was almost brought to tears after the game hearing the fans kick into their "Jose" chant to the tune of the "Ole Ole Ole" soccer anthem.
Related
He said he planned to pen a message on Twitter to thank the fans.
"Thanks for embracing a kid from Brooklyn," he said. "I’m gonna give all I got to the city.”