Breaking down the New Orleans Pelicans Game 2 crunch time struggles

The New Orleans Pelicans battled all night long in last night’s game 2 loss to the Golden State Warriors. It was a back and forth game that eventually didn’t fall the Pelicans’ way, thanks in part to some shaky late game execution. While the results were disappointing last night there are some encouraging things which is what is worth a look to hopefully figure out some things that can change and help the Pelicans execute better in Game 3.

For the sake of this piece we pick up right after Tyreke Evans answered a Klay Thompson three-pointer with a layup to make the score 88-86 Warriors with 4:43 to go. This is where the wheels started falling off, as New Orleans forced misses on 3 of the next 4 Warriors shots, but could not capitalize. Davis missed two mid-range shots in this stretch, and that combined with two Warriors baskets brought the lead back to six. Evans followed those baskets with a nasty turnover on a possession where the team desperately needed a bucket. He and Davis both appeared to be forcing shots during this stretch, and unfortunately they were trying to draw contact and weren’t getting whistles. A couple more turnovers and bad shots later, the lead was at eleven, and the game was over. It all went away so quickly.

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It feel like the turning point was the Pelicans offensive possession following the Evans layup. After forcing a miss by Iguodala, the Pelicans could have tied the game with a basket but instead AD forced a tough shot two times in a row down the floor, and just like that the league was insurmountable. He took a few shots last night that were off-balance and seemed rushed, but there was a method behind it. Knowing that New Orleans was in the penalty, the team tried everything it could to get to the free throw line. The strategy makes sense: attack the rim hard and force the defense to foul you. Then just make free throws and let those free throws allow you to set up your defense on the other end.

This would also somewhat take care of an issue that was a problem all night: transition defense. The only issue here is the Pelicans had trouble generating foul calls, and Davis was the only player that was able to get to the line. The Warriors realized what the Pelicans were trying to do, so they backed off on most dribble drives and didn’t allow the Pelicans ball handlers to draw contact. While it was smart defense it is something that New Orleans should have been able to counter by shooting more composed looks over the top of the defense to take advantage of the space the Warriors gave them by avoiding fouling. Unfortunately for young teams like the Pelicans with little to no playoff experience, this can be a tough adjustment to make late in the fourth quarter of this series.

What is encouraging is the play of Anthony Davis in the series. Davis is shooting 75 percent from the field in the restricted area through the two games and is at 46 percent from eight to sixteen feet, and right at 60 percent from eight feet and in. Quite simply, if the Pelicans are able to get Davis the ball near or around the 12-14 foot range, he will do the rest.

With that said, it feels like if the Pelicans had run sets involving Davis in these areas, with slightly better spacing, the end result could have been better. Whether that is a pick-and-roll, a pick-and-pop, or a set designed to get him a touch at the elbow or left paint area, more than likely Davis will either get a bucket or get himself to the line. There is no player on the Warriors roster that can guard Davis by himself, and they are only successful against Davis when it involves a good bit of help defense.

Davis is able to negate that help thanks to one of his go-to moves, thus far in his career— the face-up, jab step, jumper without a single dribble. This is something New Orleans can utilize down the stretch, as Davis is shooting 57 percent on shots with no dribbles this postseason. He then likes to build off of that move by jabbing taking one dribble, and shooting over the newly created space he now has. On all shots coming off one dribble, Davis is shooting 48 percent from the field. With the knowledge that they have someone to throw the ball into late who can produce like this is something the Pelicans should feel good about. Generally, the quicker Davis gets the shot off, the better the results are, as he is shooting over 60 percent on possessions when he holds the ball for two seconds or less.

These numbers say a lot of things about where the Pelicans offense should come from late in games. Ultimately, it feels like the team is at it’s best in late game situations with two-man game between Davis and a guard who can set him up in the right places. Davis and Tyreke Evans have done well together this year, but Evans is not the type of player that sets guys up in ideal spots consistently.A name that does come to mind though is Jrue Holiday, and Pelicans fans are watering at the mouth thinking about what this team would look like with a healthy Jrue Holiday in crunch time.

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Many New Orleans possessions late in this game were rushed, and although Davis was getting touches, things could have been done differently to make those more meaningful touches. The whole stretch felt a bit rushed, which is to be expected from a team who has never been there before. These sloppy possessions are fixed by repetition, the more playoff reps this team gets the more those late game possessions become routine.

A lot of people have chalked up Davis’s poor shooting fourth quarter to playing 45 minutes last night, and that certainly played a factor. Draymond Green’s defense didn’t improve late in the game as much as his style of play got tougher as Davis wore down. It felt like it had more to do with Davis never being in that spot before in a playoff game, and feeling like he had to force shots that were not really there. This is nothing to be alarmed about, it will fix itself over time considering AD is still only 22. the kid is 22. As far as the rest of the series goes, keep feeding the beast down the stretch, he will learn how to handle himself better and when it finally clicks look out. Golden State has yet to prove that they can guard Davis well for a full game, so it makes sense to let him work until they do. A little bit smarter guard play combined with more late game reps for Davis and the team as a whole and these blunders in execution will soon be forgotten. For now, keep riding the man that got you there.

The Pelicans may be down 2-0 in the series right now but that doesn’t tell the whole story. New Orleans have hung around both games and with a few minor late game adjustments, it isn’t hard to see how they can steal some games in this series.

Next: Grades from last night's loss

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