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Jonas Valanciunas Powers Pelicans Over Pistons, Sweeps Series

Jonas Valanciunas dominated the paint and powered the Pelicans to victory over the Pistons.

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New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans Pelicans

Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas led all scorers with 33 points and 16 rebounds as New Orleans defeated the Detroit Pistons 116-110 at the Little Caesars Arena on Friday. 

Jonas

He recorded his 71st double-double since joining the Pelicans two seasons ago.   Valanciunas is one shy of the franchise record held by Tyson Chandler, who had 72 in his first two seasons with New Orleans. 

New Orleans was again without starters Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, and Herb Jones; all were in street clothes watching the victory.

The game began as a back-and-forth affair in the first quarter, with New Orleans taking a 32-28 lead at quarter's end. The Pelicans began to pull away briefly in the 2nd quarter outscoring Detroit by 15 points and taking a nine-point lead into halftime. 

New Orleans dominated the paint, scoring 30 points in the lane and grabbing 25 rebounds. Trey Murphy III had an impressive shooting night following Coach Green imploring him to shoot more after losing to the Celtics. Murphy scored ten first-half points and aggressively looked for his shot.

Trey Murphy III

New Orleans could not pull away in the second half and allowed the Pistons to stay in the contest. The Pelicans committed 17 turnovers, and Detroit capitalized with 16 points off those turnovers.  

Bojan Bogdanovic's 22 points led Detroit as five players recorded double-figures on the night. At one point, the Pistons cut New Orleans' lead to 3 points before the Pelicans closed the game on an 11-6 run.

New Orleans dished out 29 assists and outrebounded the Pistons 48-42 on the glass. CJ McCollum finished with 19 points and nine assists and is making a strong push for an NBA All-Star nod.  

The Pelicans' bench was underwhelming, outscored 35-21 on the evening by Detriot. Still, New Orleans was a plus +12 from the 3-point line Friday night.

With the victory, New Orleans improves to 26-17 on the season and 2-2 on this current 5-game road trip that concludes in Cleveland on MLK Day. The Pelicans will then head home to face the Miami Heat on Jan. 18.

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