NEW ORLEANS _ Before dealing with the challenge of facing his former team, Nikola Mirotic was razzed by teammate Solomon Hill during a pregame interview in the Pelicans' locker room.
Mirotic was explaining how he overcame his brutal situation with the Bulls, saying, "First it's my personality, and it was time to move on, to put all that focus, maybe a little anger too, to be successful, to be my best ..."
Hill then chimed in with: "They hated you over there, Niko."
Mirotic grinned and shot back: "Are you talking about Indiana?"
That's where Hill flamed out before joining the Pelicans.
Mirotic took the floor Wednesday night eager to put on a show before his former teammates. He scored the first points of his team's 107-98 victory over the Bulls but had a tough shooting night, going 4-for-14. He finished with nine points, well below his career-best average of 21.8, but did pull down 15 rebounds.
The night, as it so often does, belonged to Anthony Davis. The Chicago native had struggled recently because of a sprained right elbow, but he finished with 32 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks.
Zach LaVine kept his season-long 20-plus points streak alive when he drained a long 3-pointer with less than six minutes to play. He finished with 22 points on 9-for-26 shooting.
Wendell Carter Jr. had 17 points and 11 rebounds and got a learning experience going up against Davis at times. Coach Fred Hoiberg said before the game the rookie would be aided by having had to face other beasts, namely Joel Embiid, Andre Drummond and Nikola Jokic.
"He will go out and battle," Hoiberg said. "He won't back down from anybody. The big thing for him is to keep out of foul trouble. It has cost us in some games and has hurt his growth and experience."
Carter avoided foul trouble long enough to set up LaVine for an alley-oop, to stick a jumper in Davis' face and to complete and "and-one" layup against Davis.
Asked before the game whom he anticipated would guard him, Davis replied: "I don't care, honestly."
But he was effusive in his praise of Mirotic, saying that playing alongside him is "amazing. Anytime he's on the floor, teams have to respect him. And he's doing a lot more than just shooting. He's putting it on the floor, attacking the basket. I'm glad he's here."
And his personality?
"Great guy," Davis said. "Really funny. Chill and down to earth."
Jabari Parker was assigned to Mirotic most of the night and did OK. But Parker drew Hoiberg's ire in the second quarter. After a Davis layup, Hoiberg called a timeout and immediately approached Parker to make a point.
Hoiberg kept it vague after the game, calling it "an execution thing."
Parker called it "a good talk ... we just have to communicate, me and him. And that's what we did."
Parker (20 points, 13 rebounds) stayed in the game, missed a 3 and then overcommitted on a Mirotic pump fake.
Hoiberg got testy once more Wednesday, appearing to curse at the officials during a third-quarter timeout. Hoiberg was frustrated over Carter not earning a foul call, and Kevin Cutler gave him a quick technical foul, his first of the season.
Asked if he deserved the "T" for what he said, Hoiberg replied: "Yeah, I did."
Mirotic, meanwhile, is thoroughly enjoying his season.
Of playing with Davis, he said: "All the focus is on him, so that allows me a lot of shots, and at the same time I can space the floor for him. We're accomplishing a lot together and he's really a great relationship guy."
Mirotic on Wednesday did not get to go up against Bobby Portis, who is out with a knee injury. Mirotic appreciated reading comments from Hoiberg and Robin Lopez regarding his professionalism last year after Portis slugged him in a preseason practice. Mirotic missed 23 games with the injuries he sustained from the punch.
"Robin was one of my favorite teammates," Mirotic said. "And also from Fred ... there were much more good moments than bad moments, and I'll try to (remember) the good moments."
