New Orleans Pelicans grades: Pelicans fall to Grizzlies 113-104
The New Orleans Pelicans got a bit healthier but still can’t get a win.
With Tyreke Evans and Norris Cole returning to action on Tuesday night the New Orleans Pelicans had hopes of starting to get back on the right track and headed towards the playoffs. After Marc Gasol torched them for 38 points, 13 rebounds and six assists they are still trying to figure out how to get there.
Evans was good in his season debut with 20 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and just one turnover and Anthony Davis added 17 points, 14 rebounds and nine blocks but it wasn’t enough as New Orleans crumbled after a strong first quarter and lost once again by a significant margin.
113. 211. 104. 69. Final
C. <strong><a href=. PG. New Orleans Pelicans. JRUE HOLIDAY
C-. <strong><a href=. SG. New Orleans Pelicans. ERIC GORDON
A. Tyreke Evans was the bright spot for the Pelicans on Tuesday as he brought the general brand of havoc he is so good at creating. Evans attacked the lane, found open teammates and even knocked down some threes. He didn’t look like a player still recovering from injury which is great news for New Orleans.. SF/PG/SG. New Orleans Pelicans. TYREKE EVANS
Anthony Davis had his moments on both ends of the floor Tuesday but the Pelicans need more than moments. Davis struggled to keep Marc Gasol in check and did not shoot well from the field. The rebounding continues to be a great sign and some of the blocks were downright incredible but Davis needs to be great every night for New Orleans and against the Grizzlies he wasn’t. . PF/C. New Orleans Pelicans. ANTHONY DAVIS. B
New Orleans Pelicans. OMER ASIK. F. The Grizzlies defended <strong><a href=. C
C-. <strong><a href=. PF/SF. New Orleans Pelicans. RYAN ANDERSON
DANTE CUNNINGHAM. INC. I’m going to be honest. I don’t remember much of what <strong><a href=. SF. New Orleans Pelicans
C+. Outside of the foul trouble, which is a given considering this is <strong><a href=. C. New Orleans Pelicans. ALEXIS AJINCA
New Orleans Pelicans. ISH SMITH. INC. That happened fast. With Norris Cole and Tyreke Evans returning to the lineup on Tuesday Cole didn’t get much run or ball handling opportunities. Without either he didn’t make much of an impact. . PG
D. Norris Cole in crunch time was a curious decision by Alvin Gentry and it backfired as Cole shot the Pelicans out of any comeback hopes. . PG. New Orleans Pelicans. NORRIS COLE
Other observations:
- The Pelicans have maybe three good players right now which makes rotations hard. New Orleans collapses with out Anthony Davis on the floor and while Tyreke Evans should help he doesn’t fix everything. That leads to bizarre combinations like Ish Smith, Norris Cole and Eric Gordon sharing the floor as Gentry tries to experiment and find what works. With that in mind expect things to get worse before they get better.
- It won’t be long before Omer Asik starts getting DNP-CD’s. He stinks and it is really hard to figure out how to make his offensive game playable enough to let his defense and rebounding help the team.
- The Anderson/Davis defensive numbers are going to get uglier soon as teams are once again starting to attack Anderson. Davis is doing a better job this year of protecting the rim in those situations but teams can pull him away and force Anderson to be that guy which he cannot do.
- Anthony Davis entered the night averaging 34.6 minutes per game and he played 41. It is the fifth time in the last six games Davis has played 39 minutes or more. That can’t continue. New Orleans needs to find a third big man they can play in some of those minutes so Davis doesn’t wear down before February.
The Pelicans get back at it on Wednesday when they take on the Houston Rockets.