Nigerian basketball rising star, Jahil Okafor was in brilliant form again for New Orleans Pelicans, and helped the NBA side overcome the blushes of their ongoing feud with Anthony Davis.
Sports247.ng gathered that the prolonged issue with Davis is frustrating his teammates, but Okafor rose to the occasion and effects of the recent spat did not show in their return to the court.
Okafor scored 27 points and the short-handed Pelicans overcame a big early deficit to beat Houston Rockets 121-116 in their first game since Davis’ agent said the five-time All-Star wants to be traded.
Davis sat out his fifth straight game with a sprained left index finger, but Okafor and Jrue Holiday rallied New Orleans to victory, despite facing a chain of 37 points from Houston ace, James Harden.
While Okafor twinkled at one end, Harden extended his streak of 30-point games to 24, but he had a tough shooting night.
Harden made 11 of 32 overall and going 6 for 18 from 3-point range and had 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals.
The Rockets led by as many as 15 early, but Pelicans used a 13-5 run in the third quarter to get within 83-81 with about four minutes left, and Okafor had four points in that stretch.
Okafor declared afterwards: “It wasn’t no drama to us. A.D.’s here. He took us all to dinner last night.
“There’s not really any drama for us. I know there’s a lot of noise on the outside, but in the locker room we’re still all together. We still love A.D. He still loves us. … So we’re all great.”
