Saints Will See Some Familiar Faces In 2015 Opponents by Gene Higginbotham

I know what you’re thinking.

“Hey wait, this game hasn’t happened yet. How could there be a recap?”

Because it’s the offseason. If I can’t recap actual games then I’m going to suspend your belief instead, and transport you to a opening night in a fictional NBA.

So close your eyes for 10 seconds, rub your forehead, chant “long live Pierre” and then open your eyes, and let me show you the future of the New Orleans Pelicans.

It’s October 28th. You wake up feeling a childish sense of excitement you haven’t felt since elementary school, and you rush downstairs to grab the tickets you saved for weeks to buy.

Suddenly it really hits you that this is opening night.

Imagine being 8 again, imagine having an unlimited supply of Halloween candy, imagine never having a “bedtime”, imagine the feeling of waking up on christmas morning knowing there’s a bevy of presents begging to be unwrapped downstairs.

That feeling rushes back the second you see those tickets.

You look at the clock at work approximately 10,536,238,045 times throughout the day waiting for it to hit 5:00 PM. You haven’t done a lick of work all day, instead you watched Anthony Davis highlights on YouTube and read Big Easy Believer articles to cope with the wait.

Finally it hits 5:00, and you run out the door barely avoiding a collision with your boss by dogging him with a signature Tyreke Evans euro-step.

You and a couple of buddies are driving to the area, and the homer-ism level in the car is off the charts.

“Will Anthony Davis be a guaranteed Hall-of-Famer at the end of this season?” “Could Jrue Holiday break-out just like Steve Nash did?” “Is Alvin Gentry a lock to win the Nobel Peace Prize, or is he just a strong candidate?”

Jun 22, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry holds up a jersey during a press conference at the New Orleans Pelicans Training Facility. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Fast-forward. You’re in your seats, and Alvin Gentry steps out on the court with a mic in his hand.

“Helllllloooooooooo Neeeewwwwww Orrrrllleeeaaannssssssssss” He screams at the crowd as it erupts in violent vibration.

“As many of you know, I helped coach this team right here. This team that just won the NBA championship. Funny thing about helping to build a team is… you generally have a good idea of how to take them apart. Trust me when I say this New Orleans, trust me when I say I know how to take this team apart.”

At this point the crowd is in full-on Mardi Gras mode.

“And trust me when I say I can build a team just as good here in NOLA, in fact, a team that’s better than the one I built last year. Why? because we got AD New Orleans, we got AD.”

And then BANG, the Pelicans run out on the court. Anthony Davis grabs the mic from Gentry, and says four words to the crowd: “It’s time for revenge”

Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon, Quincy Pondexter, Anthony Davis and Omer Asik take the court as the starting lineup. Before tip-off, we can see Anthony Davis murmur something to Steph Curry that makes him raise his eyebrows and nod in a sarcastic fashion like Curry was AD’s annoyed older brother.

No one knows what he said, but we know he just gave Curry a challenge.

The Warriors win the tip, and start with the first possession. Then something happens, Jrue Holiday moves down to cover Klay Thompson, Gordon shifts over to Barnes, and Pondexter matches up with Draymond Green. Then Anthony Davis stomps to the front of the three-point line, and gets right up in Curry’s face.

“Interesting move here” Pelicans announcer Davis Wesley remarks, “It seems Gentry has chosen to guard Steph with AD from the start of the first quart—-“ but then Wesley stops talking. He sees Curry confidently wave of his teammates, and take a heat-check contested three right over Davis.

Davis jumps horizontally towards Curry, barely blocking the shot with the tips of his fingers. Then Jrue grabs the rebound and heaves it across the court.

Before Curry can yell “Smoothie King”, Anthony Davis is already on the other end of the floor. AD gathers Jrue’s pass, dunks with authority, and then turns to Curry and stares him down like a hawk. Actually no, he stares him down like a Pelican.

Apr 23, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; A general view of the opening tip off during the first quarter in game three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Golden State Warriors at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

The MVP chants are literally deafening.

The game is never really close. The Pelicans make a 10 point run, the Warriors make 15. The Warriors hit 4 straight threes, the Pelicans get 3 straight steals.

It seems like the team that wins will simply be the one who has the final run of the game. Then the Pelicans break away, by the end of the 3rd quarter they have a 17 point lead, and Curry is 2-9 from deep while being covered by Davis.

Then the Warriors make an adjustment. They dare Anthony Davis to shoot from three, completely backing off of him behind the arc. Steph Curry remarks to Doris Burke before the quarter “He says he developed an outside shot this summer, so we’re going to make him prove it to us.”

The Pelicans start to realize that the Warriors are working increasingly hard to neutralize everyone except AD, who is wide open in the corner. The Warriors make a huge run, and AD seems visibly nervous from behind the line. 0-1, then 0-2, then 0-3. Miss on miss on miss.

Eventually, the Warriors climb back up and make it a two point game. Then we all get Deja Vu, because just like at the start of the game, Curry is isolated on Anthony Davis at the top of the key. Curry rises up, except this time it’s a clean swish.

Pelicans down one…

Eight seconds left. The Warriors do what they’ve done all game, they front Davis and push him out to the perimeter, before promptly backing off him for an open three. Except on this play, Curry calls to Draymond to switch, and Curry gets up on AD. Davis stares down Curry, with a look of completely confidence.

Davis rises up, and shoots from 24 feet, with Curry right in his face.

Dec 4, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) defends the shot by New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) during the first quarter at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

He misses the shot, and Curry runs into the middle of the court hyping up his teammates about the win. He’s dancing around and doing his signature fist clenching power stance with his mouth-guard hanging out of his mouth.

Then Curry turns to the beach and sees Steve Kerr.

“STEPH THERE’S STILL TIME YOU FORGOT TO BOX OUT DAVIS” He shrieks.

And Steph Curry turns around, the smile fades from his face, and he sees Anthony Davis sprint toward the basket, through an open lane, with no one to box him out, jump in the air, and tip the ball in right as the buzzer sounds!

“PELICANS BY ONE” David Wesley screams across from the broadcast station. “AD TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THE EARLY CELEBRATION TO WIN IT AT THE BUZZER.”

You and your buddies completely lose it! In the last 10 seconds you have gone through a series of violent emotional shifts that ended in a last millisecond buzzer beater!

Kendrick Perkins is smiling too! Kendrick Perkins never smiles!

Doris Burke runs to Davis for a post-game interview, he looks like he just won the lottery, she shoves the mic right in his face and asks “Anthony, what an amazing finish, Steph fell asleep and you clearly took advantage! After a win like this, is there any message you have for the defending champs?”

Davis pauses for a minute.

“They better not fall asleep in June, because next time I do this they will have dropped a conference finals game”

Then Davis shoots Curry one last look…

…..licks his fingers…

…….combs back his unibrow…

…. and walks of the court……

Pelicans by one………..