The New Orleans Pelicans handily took care of business on Tuesday night after they demolished the Brooklyn Nets, 112-85, at Smoothie King Center. It was a balanced effort for a Pelicans team that simply outplayed the Nets from the opening tip until the final buzzer, but it was their defense that stole the show; they held the Nets to an unsightly 35.7 percent shooting from the field and 25.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

And the Pelicans, on multiple occasions, didn't even allow the Nets to get a shot off. They tallied 10 steals on the night, with four different players each notching two steals apiece, and it seems like the Pelicans caused the Nets ballhandlers some paranoia — especially with the looming threat of Jose Alvarado's patented come-from-behind Grand Theft exploits always in the back of everyone's minds whenever he's on the court.

Now, it's not just Alvarado other teams must be cognizant of as a potential steal threat in the backcourt. This phenomenon seems to have been contagious in the Pelicans locker room, with Naji Marshall trying his luck as an Alvarado copycat, and the 25-year old point guard believes that Marshall will have some success in doing so especially when opponents are already paranoid of him.

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“I've seen it. I think it's worked a few times (for him). It's fun. If (opponents are) looking out for me, my dawg (Marshall) is going to get one,” Alvarado said in his postgame presser, per Jim Eichenhofer, host of the official podcast of the Pelicans.

This is one of the main reasons why the Pelicans are so annoying to play against. Not only do they have talented offensive players, they have defensive-minded pieces who will make it their life's mission to get their opponents out of their comfort zone. In addition to Jose Alvarado and Naji Marshall, Herb Jones, Dyson Daniels, and Larry Nance Jr. are all long-armed disruptors who shrink the floor with their incredible defensive instincts in passing lanes.

The Pelicans currently rank seventh in the league in defensive rating, and at this point, there's no reason to expect that number to fall off since the entire roster is starting to round into shape.