New Orleans Pelicans Player Grades: Pelicans can not keep up with Oklahoma City Thunder in loss
By Rick Stone
The New Orleans Pelicans couldn’t quite keep up with the speed and skill of the Oklahoma City Thunder in a 121-95 loss right before the All-Star Break.
The New Orleans Pelicans’ fatigue showed tonight as they could not hold serve with the explosive Oklahoma City Thunder in their final game before the NBA All-Star festivities in Toronto.
Early on in the game the Pelicans kept the game close, even tied with the Thunder 25-25 in the second quarter. New Orleans trailed the rest of the way as Oklahoma City distanced themselves slowly but steadily as the night continued. The Pelicans kept it close with mini-spurts of offense, yet their lack of shooting and tired legs got the better of them as the Thunder took advantage of nine offensive rebounds and 12 three-pointers to carry them to victory.
Russell Westbrook stole the show for the Thunder, scoring 23 points, while adding ten assists and nine rebounds. Kevin Durant also had a solid game for Oklahoma City with 23 points. Anthony Davis led the Pelicans with 23 points and two steals. Jrue Holiday was also strong for New Orleans with 23 points, six assists and five steals.
Other Observations:
- The one thing that kept the Pelicans in this game was their ability to capitalize on transition opportunities. New Orleans turned 18 Oklahoma City turnovers into 24 transition points, accounting for over a fourth of their total points in the game. Due to their recent struggles in transition offense, that’s a plus to take from a bad game.
- New Orleans got absolutely clobbered due to their failure to box out. The Oklahoma City Thunder finished the game with nine offensive rebounds, leading to a good portion of their 54 points in the paint. The Pelicans failed to get physical off of shots taken and it cost them.
- The Pelicans continue to struggle shooting the long ball this season. New Orleans took 16 three-point attempts, making just three of them. The Thunder capitalized by making 12 of their 32 attempts from the field. It’s obvious the Pelicans are a bad long-range shooting team, but letting OKC make that many deep shots is unacceptable.
- The biggest pattern that’s a plus for New Orleans is Anthony Davis’ aggression to get to the line over the recent stretch of games. Davis finished with 12 free-throws attempted tonight, making it his fifth of seven games this month with at least six attempts and his second this month with at least ten attempts. He needs to stay aggressive for this team to succeed. He’s doing just that of late.
- This game was a tall task for the Pelicans to win from the get-go. Coming off a back-to-back and playing one of the hottest teams in the NBA is a gauntlet. While this loss will hurt their place in the standings, it’s tough to say this was not expected.
Next: Tyreke Evans undergoes successful knee surgery
The New Orleans Pelicans will now head into the All-Star break, with Anthony Davis being part of the festivities in Toronto, Canada. The rest of the team will look to rest up for the final stretch of the season.