Pelicans Make Opening-Night Statement, Pound Nets 130-108

The New Orleans Pelicans jumped out to a 32-14 first-quarter lead and never looked back in a 130-108 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

BROOKLYN, NY – The New Orleans Pelicans and Zion Williamson just sent a message to the rest of the NBA in a 130-108 win over the Brooklyn Nets.

It was already 7-0 before Simmons made Brooklyn’s first basket of the season. The Pelicans took a 20-4 lead and Williamson’s layup made it 32-14.

New Orleans led comfortably for most of the first half, but the Nets finally got it back down by double digits when Nick Claxton blocked Williamson’s spinning dunk attempt and Durant came down and hit a 3-pointer that made it 54-45.

It was 58-50 before Ingram scored 12 points and Williamson added 11 on 5-for-6 shooting in a 40-point third as the Pelicans stretched the lead to 26 before taking a 98-78 lead into the fourth.

It was a bad way to start the season for a Nets team that desperately wants to forget the last one. A first-round exit — when Simmons never played because of back problems after being acquired for James Harden — led to a tumultuous offseason in which Durant was asked to be traded and Nate Irving refused a contract extension, forcing him to pick up his option for it and his in Brooklyn. the end