DeMarcus Who? — Pelicans Can’t Be Beat With Old-Man Emeka Okafor Starting

On Monday night, the New Orleans Pelicans erased a gigantic first-half deficit to beat the Phoenix Suns for their sixth consecutive victory. Anthony Davis scored a season-best 53 points in the win, while Jrue Holiday added 20 points and Rajon Rondo dished out 12 assists.

Davis also grabbed 17 boards and blocked five shots.

The real story here is Emeka Okafor, though, a guy we wrote about a few weeks ago. Okafor hadn’t played in an NBA game since the 2012–13 season but signed a 10-day contract with the Pelicans after DeMarcus Cousins went down with a season-ending injury. After making his debut off the bench against the 76ers on February 5th, he jumped right into the starting lineup and the rest has been history.

New Orleans hasn’t lost since Okafor got the nod, winning all five games he’s started (plus another one he didn’t appear in). They’re now 34–26 overall and seem to be a lock for the Western Conference Playoffs.

The best part of the Okafor story is that he’s actually contributing. Always known for his defense, the former UConn standout blocked five shots against the Miami Heat on February 23rd and is averaging more than six rebounds per game in just 17 minutes per game.

Plus, Okafor is starting to get his offensive chops back as well. In their win against Phoenix, he hit all five of his field-goal attempts, went 4–5 from the free-throw line, and finished with 14 points.

Because of his breakout performances, Okafor earned himself a second 10-day contract after his first expired. Then today, Yahoo Sports reported that the Pelicans would sign him for the remainder of the season.

With the win over the Suns, the Pelicans now sit at №5 in the West. They’ll have a big test on Wednesday night against the San Antonio Spurs at 8:30 P.M ET.