New Orleans Pelicans squeak by Detroit Pistons, win 88-85

The New Orleans Pelicans were in need of a win against the Detroit Pistons tonight if they wanted to keep up in the tense race for the playoffs.

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With Russell Westbrook scoring triple doubles, the Spurs finding their form, and the Phoenix Suns struggling, a win for the Pelicans was crucial. That’s just what they managed to pull off behind an incredible performance from Anthony Davis. He was one of many big time performances across the NBA tonight, but his might have mattered the most.

Whenever the Pelicans were in need of a big play tonight, it was Davis that came through for them on both ends of the floor. Which is a good thing cause the Pelicans were really struggling otherwise unless they were playing out of a designed set. Any time the offense broke down, and New Orleans was forced to come up with something on the fly, more often than not it resulted in a bad shot, or a turnover. Luckily, the game stayed as a low scoring affair in a surprisingly solid defensive performance from New Orleans.

Well not every game can be a good one. Even though Gordon has been playing well for quite awhile now tonight was not a good one for him. He was a total non factor and the Pistons defense shut him down from the start. Luckily, he only attempted 5 shots so he wasn’t taking away anything from the team. On the other hand he wasn’t exactly forcing the defense to think about him when he was on the floor.. SG. New Orleans Pelicans. ERIC GORDON. D+

Quincy Pondexter was brought in for defense and that’s what he did tonight. He held the perimeter as best he could and kept the Pistons wing players in check.. SF. New Orleans Pelicans. QUINCY PONDEXTER. C+

C+. It took <strong><a href=. SG/PG. New Orleans Pelicans. TYREKE EVANS

Davis was amazing and had a game that, if the Pelicans had won more games, would put him up in MVP talks. 39 points, 13 rebounds, 8 blocks, and one of those blocks was a play where he literally ripped it out of Greg Monroe’s hands. The guy is a menace on both sides of the court and the only way to game plan against him is hope he’s having an off night. Welcome back AD, you were missed.. PF/C. New Orleans Pelicans. ANTHONY DAVIS. A++

New Orleans Pelicans. OMER ASIK. B-. Omer Asik continues his eternal battle against the rim, and outside of one dunk, the rim managed to get the better of him a lot on offense. He did play some pretty great defense however and that’s the reason he’s on the floor.. C

SF/PF. New Orleans Pelicans. DANTE CUNNINGHAM. D+. Dante Cunningham was a nice addition when he was signed but he’s really regressed as of late on the offensive. Maybe, it’s because he’s playing small forward? There’s no way to know for sure, but he hasn’t been playing well. At least his defense was better tonight.

B-. The transformation of Alexis Ajinca from last big man on the roster to suitable backup has been a strange, but fun, adventure. He had a solid night offensively and managed to pull down 11 rebounds.. C. New Orleans Pelicans. ALEXIS AJINCA

D+. Well it had to happen sometime, but Norris Cole is finally starting to show why he gave Miami fans such grief. While the Pistons should get credit for blowing up so many sets, Norris Cole took it upon himself to try and score quite a few times and it did not go well. However, as far as point guards go he wasn’t too bad, and he had a key steal late in the game.. PG. New Orleans Pelicans. NORRIS COLE

LUKE BABBIT. ??. Luke Babbit played six minutes early in the game and that’s all we ever saw from him. He took one shot and missed it.. SF. New Orleans Pelicans

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