New Orleans Pelicans collapse late in disastrous loss to the Portland Trail-Blazers 102-93
By Rick Stone
While this was only the ninth game of the season for the New Orleans Pelicans, an uncomfortable pattern is starting to occur for this young team…
Up 10 points with only 8:56 left in the game, the Pelicans looked in prime position to take down one of the NBA’s elites at home in the Portland Trail-Blazers. The Blazers, without SF Nicolas Batum, struggled all night to put the ball in the basket, only scoring 71 points at that point in the game. However, just like in their late-game situations in Memphis, San Antonio and Cleveland, the Pelicans completely collapsed at the end of the game. This time, it cost them a big one on the beginning of a road back-to-back against Portland, 102-93.
In a game that Anthony Davis dominated every aspect of throughout. In a game where Portland could not figure out how to get past the Pelicans, even without starting center Omer Asik. In a game where Portland turned the ball over an absurd 18 times. The Pelicans still could not find a way to win. The final nine minutes of the game turned into a 31-10 run for Portland, and New Orleans lost a heartbreaker, with another game in Sacramento tomorrow.
JRUE HOLIDAY. B. <strong><a href=. PG. New Orleans Pelicans
New Orleans Pelicans. ERIC GORDON. C+. While <strong><a href=. SG
B-. <strong><a href=. SF/PG/SG. New Orleans Pelicans. TYREKE EVANS
A+++. The only reason this is an A+++ is because I can’t add any more plusses. <strong><a href=. PF/C. New Orleans Pelicans. ANTHONY DAVIS
AJINCA. C-. <strong><a href=. C. New Orleans Pelicans
C+. For how well <strong><a href=. PF/SF. New Orleans Pelicans. RYAN ANDERSON
C-. <strong><a href=. PG/SG. New Orleans Pelicans. AUSTIN RIVERS
INC. Tough to give <strong><a href=. SF. New Orleans Pelicans. LUKE BABBITT
New Orleans Pelicans. JEFF WITHEY. INC. While seven minutes isn’t enough to give <strong><a href=. C
Other Observations:
- Omer Asik’s loss was stamped all over this game. In a season New Orleans is one of the best paint defense in the league, the Pelicans gave up 46 points in the paint. While they were able to score 52 of their own points in the paint, the lack of defensive force inside was clearly a weak point all night.
- While the Pelicans defense held strong throughout the game, the end of the game defense fell completely apart. In the final nine minutes, Portland shot 8-12 from the field and 10-11 from the free-throw line, compared to 30-64 from the field and 9-12 from the free-throw line for the rest of the game.
- The struggle all night was from the backcourt players of the Pelicans. Combined the trio of Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday and Austin Rivers shot 11-42 from the field. The rest of the Pelicans shot 27-43 from the field. Those are tough stats to swallow.
- For a team that has really shot the three-ball well so far this season, New Orleans could not find any long-ball touch tonight. The Pelicans shot a dreadful 26.3% from behind the three point line against Portland. The Blazers shot 36.8% from three. In a game like this, those are the shots that separate the winning team from the losing team.
- Monty Williams’ substitutions are going to come into question from this game. When he took out Jrue Holiday for two and a half minutes, the Blazers went on a 7-2 run. Then when he decided to bring Jrue in and keep Rhino out there instead of Ajinca, the final six minutes saw another 22-8 run for Portland.
- Just like in Cleveland, Memphis and at home vs. Dallas, New Orleans stayed close to their high ranked opponents until falling out of it late. They also almost blew a win against the Spurs until Anthony Davis saved the day. This team has not closed well, and the blame can go around quite a bit. So many great opportunities to pull out big wins, and so many missed opportunities that could very well cost them a playoff spot later on this season. Tough.