McCollum leads Pelicans to shoot hot scene via Raptors

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – CJ McCollum’s first win with New Orleans was one of the Pelicans’ most dominant performances of the season.

McCollum, who was traded from Portland last week, scored 23 points and the Pelicans overall had a season best of 58.4% to beat the Toronto Raptors 120-90 on Monday night.

It was McCollum’s third game with his new club and his most productive. He made nine of 13 shots, including five of eight from the 3-point range, and had five assists, four rebounds, two steals and not a single rotation.

“CJ, he’s just a proven professional. He’s been doing that for years,” said Pelicans coach Willie Green. “He’s just a general leader. So coming to our team, he’s doing a lot of the same things. ”

Brandon Ingram had 10 points and 11 rebounds. His eight assists left him twice short of his first double when he was dragged after playing 29 minutes because the game wasn’t over – and because New Orleans played again on Tuesday night.

“I’m not that upset,” Ingram said. “I want to rest in that fourth quarter.”

Jonas Valanciunas had 18 points and 9 rebounds in 28 minutes, and reserve big man Jackson Hayes added 14 points for New Orleans, which had never been ahead and led by 34 points.

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Fred VanVleet scored 20 points and Pascal Siakam added 18 points for Toronto, who have lost two games in a row after an eight-game winless streak.

“It was just a terrible game,” Siakam said. “They came out early and took the lead, and they were just taking shots. It was just one of those nights.”

The Raptors had the season’s worst 30.5% shot (29 of 95), and the game could have been more misdirected if Toronto, second in the NBA in offensive bounces, failed to score 20 of their own misses. yourself and convert them. into 24 second chance points.

“We started off slow on both sides,” said Raptors coach Nick Nurse. “It turned into a really bad night pretty early on.”

On the other side, the Pelicans had a season-high 36 assists as a team with 45 on-field goals, and finished the season top with 16 assists on 36 attempts ( 44.4%).

“That’s what we want to be as a team,” says Ingram. “That’s the focus we’ll be focusing on tonight, just getting everyone involved, making sure the balloons jump and get the best shot on the floor.”

Green said he was “certainly impressed” with the club’s performance, which led to a two-game miss in an emphatic fashion.

“It was impressive how we did it, starting from defending, moving the ball and trusting each other,” said Green. “It’s not every game that we can get 36 assists, but it’s great to do that. It’s great that the boys trust each other.”

CAT

Raptors: Subs Chris Boucher scored 15 points, taking nine out of 12 free throws, in 23 minutes. … VanVleet has scored at least 20 points in seven consecutive games. … Siakam’s 20-point streak ended at six. … The Raptors only scored seven points from 14 transfers of the Pelicans.

Pelicans: Tony Snell plays for the first time since his transfer from Portland as part of the deal that brought McCollum to New Orleans. Snell had eight points, two rebounds and an assist in 14 minutes. … Herb Jones scored 11 points and reserve keeper Garrett Temple also scored 11 points, launching 3/4 of 3-pointers and 4/5 of shots overall in 14 minutes.

KNOCKED KNEE

The nurse said he withdrew VanVleet from the game after 3/4 in part because of the score difference, but also because his star played with a sore knee in the second half.

“He told me at half way that he got hit in the knee,” Nurse said. “He was tough and got through it, but it didn’t make sense to go any further with him after the third season.”

NEXT

Raptors: Visit Minnesota on Wednesday night for their final game before the All-Star break.

Pelicans: Take on Memphis on Tuesday night for the fifth in six straight home games.

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