DeAndre Jordan responds to rare playing time with a vintage performance in a Pelicans victory

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — After a vintage performance, New Orleans Pelicans center DeAndre Jordan was looking forward to getting home and enjoying a glass of wine.

“I'll probably have some Bordeaux tonight,” Jordan said after grabbing 15 rebounds and blocking four shots in a 126-111 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.

It would have been easy for the casual basketball fan to forget about the 37-year-old Jordan, who has spent nearly all of his 18th NBA season on the bench.

Brought in to serve as a mentor for the Pelicans' younger interior players — including first-round draft choice Derik Queen — Jordan had appeared in just two games this season and had not played since Oct. 29.

But Pelicans coach James Borrego, disgusted by his team's porous defense in a lopsided loss to Milwaukee on Friday night, decided it was time to give Jordan his 793rd career start.

“My gut was saying to make this move," said Borrego, who has gone 14-32 with New Orleans (16-42) since taking over after Willie Green was fired 12 games into the season.

“When he got to the arena, I had a quick conversation with him,” Borrego said. "He was ready to go and we made the move.”

Jordan played so well, Borrego kept him on the court for nearly 32 minutes.

“His impact defensively for us tonight was massive,” Borrego said. "To be a good defensive ball club in this league, you've got to have some type of physicality, rim protection, deterrence, a presence in the middle — and he provided that.

“He was phenomenal defensively in so many ways,” Borrego continued. “Even shots he didn’t block, they weren’t sure that they wanted to get in there.”

Jordan's blocks ranged from him swatting away Kellly Oubre Jr.'s driving floater to his leaping deflection of VJ Edgecombe's 3-point attempt. He also scored six points, highlighted by an alley-oop dunk of a feed from Herb Jones.

“Any time you can go out a compete in this league, it’s a gift, man," Jordan said. “It was cool to be able to go out there and play tonight.”

Jordan, who was an All-Star in 2017 with the Los Angeles Clippers, said he stayed ready this season by participating in regular five-on-five scrimmages with other players who'd logged relatively few minutes. His minimal playing time wasn't surprising or discouraging to him, he said, because he understood the Pelicans signed him to help develop younger interior players such as Queen, Yves Missi, Karlo Matkovic and Zion Williamson.

“That’s a part of the job," Jordan said. “They’ve got bigs that are part of their future. So, coming in, I knew it was going to be: Play some nights, maybe not play some nights, be a mentor. But when my number is called, I’ve got to be ready.”

Jordan's mentorship also was on display when he stepped between Queen and Sixers center Andre Drummond after they'd begun shoving during a heated exchange under the basket.

Jordan grinned and said, “I've got fresh legs,” when asked if he could envision playing regularly during New Orleans' 24 remaining regular-season games.

“It’s not about me or one guy," Jordan said. “But tonight I got the opportunity to play and I took advantage of it.”

Jordan, Borrego said, deserved the type of game he had in front of an appreciative home crowd.

"He deserves all that comes with tonight," Borrego said. “He's elevated our program in so many ways that will never be discussed anywhere but in our locker room.”

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New Orleans Pelicans center DeAndre Jordan, center right, holds back Philadelphia 76ers forward Dominick Barlow (25) near to Pelicans center Derik Queen (22) and 76ers guard Kelly Oubre Jr. (9) after Queen was pushed from behind by 76ers center Andre Drummond (not shown) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

New Orleans Pelicans center DeAndre Jordan talks to center Derik Queen (22) after after Queen was pushed from behind by Philadelphia 76ers center Andre Drummond, not pictured, during the first half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

New Orleans Pelicans center DeAndre Jordan (6) dunks against Philadelphia 76ers guard Kelly Oubre Jr. (9) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

New Orleans Pelicans center DeAndre Jordan (6) blocks Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey (0) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

NEW YORK (AP) — Cities and towns along the East Coast scrambled to prepare for a bout with heavy snow and damaging winds after forecasters issued blizzard alerts for communities from Maryland to Massachusetts.

The National Weather Service warned that once the storm intensifies Sunday it could prove significantly more severe than projections made just a few days ago.

The weather service said 1 to 2 feet (about 30 to 61 centimeters) of snow was possible in many areas as it put out blizzard warnings for New York City and Long Island, Boston and coastal communities in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Flooding was also possible in parts of New York and New Jersey, it said.

“While we do get plenty of these nor'easters that produce heavy snow and strong impacts, it's been several years since we saw one of this magnitude across this large of a region in this very populated part of the country,” said Cody Snell, a meteorologist at the service's Weather Prediction Center.

Snell said the storm would arrive Sunday morning in areas around Washington before stretching toward Philadelphia and New York City and reaching Boston in the evening.

Some of the heaviest snow was projected to fall overnight Sunday into Monday.

The weather service said the storm could begin as rainfall in some places before worsening. Some of the heaviest snow is projected to fall overnight Sunday, with as much as 2 inches (5 centimeters) of snow per hour at times in some areas, before tapering off by Monday afternoon.

The weather service warned that the storm, with gusts up to 55 mph (80 kph), could cause whiteout conditions that “will make travel treacherous and potentially life-threatening. The strong winds and weight of snow on tree limbs may down power lines and could cause sporadic power outages.”

Officials scrambled to prepare for a storm that forecasters days ago believed would have a much more limited impact.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city would expand on efforts it used to deal with a major snowfall weeks ago. But officials held off on deciding whether to open schools Monday for the time being.

“We saw on Friday there was expectation that the likelihood was that we were going to face maybe 3 to 4 inches of snow. Quickly that then changed,” Mamdani said. “So we want to make sure that we make a decision based on up-to-date and accurate information.”

New York brought in additional snow-clearing equipment from outside the city and planned to increase use of geocoding to keep track of bus stops and crosswalks that need clearing, he said.

With the storm zeroing in, John Berlingieri scrapped plans for a family trip to Puerto Rico to prepare his company, Berrington Snow Management, for what could well be a mammoth task: Clearing snow from millions of square feet of asphalt surrounding shopping malls and industrial parks across Long Island.

Employees spent the last few days recharging batteries on the company’s 40 front-end loaders and replacing windshield wipers on snow-removal vehicles, before resting up Saturday.

“I’m anticipating at least one week of work around the clock,” Berlingieri said. “We’re going to work 24 to 36 hours straight, sleep for a few hours and then go back.”

The storm approached just as the icy remains of a snowstorm that struck the region weeks earlier were finally melting away.

Officials in Atlantic City, New Jersey, urged residents and casino visitors to stay off the streets, especially in low-lying neighborhoods prone to flooding.

“I could go on and on probably with a good two dozen streets where we know we will get water and there will be snow on top of that,” said Scott Evans, the city's fire chief and emergency management coordinator. “So you won’t be able to see it until it's too late. So therefore please stay at home.”

Many churches canceled Sunday services and other activities. To compensate, St. Veronica Parish in Howell, New Jersey, added an extra Mass on Saturday evening.

“Please stay safe, avoid unnecessary travel, and keep one another in prayer during the storm,” the Rev. Peter James Alindogan posted online.

Associated Press writers Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, Julie Walker in New York and Larry Neumeister in Brick Township, New Jersey, contributed.

FILE - Pedestrians climb over snow banks to try and cross the streets in New York, Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)