Elfrid Payton Records Fifth Consecutive Triple-Double as Pelicans Beat Mavs

Elfrid Payton recorded his fifth consecutive triple-double as the visiting New Orleans Pelicans beat the Dallas Mavericks in overtime on Monday night.

The Pelicans managed to snap a six-game losing streak on a night where Dirk Nowitzki passed Wilt Chamberlain for sixth place on the NBA's career scoring list and Mavs rookie Luka Doncic turned in a triple-double of his own with 29 points, 13 rebounds and 10 dimes.

Pelicans forward Julius Randle scored a game-high 30 points in the victory.

Payton logged 19 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in the 129-125 win. He is the fifth player in NBA history to post five straight triple-doubles. Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook have also accomplished this feat.

Elfrid Payton has become just the 5th player in NBA history to record a triple-double in 5 consecutive games.

Russell Westbrook set the NBA record earlier this season with an 11-game streak.

h/t @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/jdLyMuQ2Kj

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 19, 2019

Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry praised Payton for his recent stretch of dominance.

"To be a point guard and be able to come up with double-digit rebounds night after night after night, that is really tough to do," Gentry said. "Any time they mention you in the same breath as Westbrook, you have to feel really good about it. If they mention you in the same breath as Oscar Robertson, that is another whole area."

Payton will look to register his sixth consecutive triple-double on Wednesday night in a road tilt against the Orlando Magic. The 25-year-old Payton spent the first 3.5 seasons of his career with the Magic before it traded him to the Phoenix Suns at the 2018 NBA trade deadline. He played just 19 games for the Suns, before signing with the Pelicans in free agency this summer.

Skip Bayless Caught in Lie Regarding MJ and LeBron

LeBron James looked exhausted at times during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Game 2 loss at Oracle Arena on Sunday night.

James has been incredulous in Cleveland’s deep playoff run. In his past four postseason games—two against the Golden State Warriors and two versus the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals—he has averaged 41.3 points, 10.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists in a whopping 46.5 minutes per contest.

LeBron looked exhausted in Game 2 of the Finals. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Given those gaudy numbers, his usage rate on the court and lack of rest, James should be tired.

Just don't tell that to Fox Sports 1 Analyst Skip Bayless, who has spent much of the past decade hating on James and diminishing the many accomplishments of the greatest player of the 21st century. Bayless mocked how James was called tired by ESPN Analyst and former NBA player Chauncey Billups and asserted NBA icon Michael Jordan would never be labeled tired.

Think about this: Chauncey Billups just said on ABC that LeBron "looked a little tired." IT'S ONLY GAME 2 OF THE NBA FINALS. I covered Michael Jordan when he was year older than LeBron is now. NOBODY EVER EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT MJ BEING TIRED. That would've been blasphemous.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) June 4, 2018

Interestingly enough, Jordan actually was called “tired” twenty years ago—by none other than Bayless himself in a column he wrote during the 1998 NBA Finals.

Twitter users took notice and exposed Bayless.

THIS IS ART, a two-part classic. pic.twitter.com/NkdhLNObxo

— Akash Anavarathan (@akashanav) June 4, 2018

Fantastic twitter own right here pic.twitter.com/M8Z8Q5kvDI

— Alex Kantrowitz (@Kantrowitz) June 4, 2018

That is some poetic justice right there. Bayless tried desperately to pedal the Jordan/James storyline, and it backfired. He must not have remembered writing that column, but people (aided by some quick research) don’t forget, Skip. People don't forget.