NBA 2018-19: Boston Celtics at New Orleans Pelicans: 3 Key takeaways

The Boston Celtics came away with a 124-107 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on the back of Kyrie Irving's team-high 26 points.

The Boston Celtics tried to run away with the match after a fast start to the first quarter in which they took a 13 point lead. But the Pelicans crawled their way back in the fourth quarter on the back of 14 fourth-quarter points by Anthony Davis who ultimately finished with game-high 27 points.

The New Orleans Pelicans could not deal with the Celtics early on, they missed their first four field goal attempts and also had four very quick turnovers. After this match, the Celtics stand at 6th position in the Eastern Conference with an 11-10 record.

The New Orleans Pelicans dropped below .500 and are currently sitting at 12th position with a 10-11 record in a pretty loaded Western Conference. Here are the top 3 takeaways from this encounter.

#3 All-around contribution for the Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics got massive contributions all across the board from several of their players. Three of their starters scored 20 or more points while Morris finished with 19 points.

Kyrie Irving again played a starring role filling the stat sheet with 26 points, 10 assists and 5 rebounds to go along with his 5 steals. He also hit 5 shots from beyond the arc. He got great support from both Jayson Tatum and Al Horford who both finished with 20 points.

Tatum hasn't been able to live up to his hype, but slowly he is getting back to his old touch. Terry Rozier came off the bench and scored 14 points for the Celtics.

#2 New Orleans Pelicans not taking care of the ball

Jrue Holiday contributed to a lot of these turnovers

The New Orleans Pelicans finished with a season-high 22 turnovers. On the other hand, the Boston Celtics finished with only 13 turnovers. These turnovers proved very costly for the Pelicans and never allowed them to come back in the match. The Celtics took full advantage of these turnovers and came away with 32 points off those turnovers.

The Pelicans trailed by as many as 13 points after the first quarter and 20 points after the second and third quarters. Jrue Holiday was the most guilty of not handling the ball properly and finished the match with eight turnovers.

Anthony Davis stuffed the stat sheet again with 27 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. But he was also guilty of turning the ball over five times. The Pelicans must improve on this aspect if they are to advance to the playoffs in the Western Conference.

#1 Lights out shooting from the Celtics

The Celtics had a great night shooting the basketball. They finished shooting 49.5% from the field to only 44.2% for the Pelicans.

The Celtics were particularly impressive from the 3PT line making 19 threes on 49% shooting from the deep. Kyrie Irving went 5-10 from the deep. Horford shot 3-4 from beyond the arc. The other starters, Tatum, Smart and Morris all contributed to the shooting for the Celtics.

The Pelicans shot a good 37.5% from the 3PT line with Mirotic shooting 6-11 from the deep. But they were no match for the Celtics team who are desperately trying to get back to their best that led many to believe that they will come out as the Eastern Conference Champions.

The Celtics next play the Cavaliers on Friday. The New Orleans Pelicans play the Washington Wizards on Wednesday.