New Orleans Pelicans Grades: Pelicans Hold On To Beat Suns

110. 69. Final. 108. 66

B. Jrue Holiday had a funky game. He did have 18 points, eight assists and two steals. However, he got beat in his matchup against Eric Bledsoe. He was not the more athletic player and he forced a few turnovers late that were nothing short of ugly. He has been really strong in this recent stretch. Tonight was not so much that story. Still, he did do enough distributing the ball and shooting 6-11 from the field, with two three’s made for the Pels to win.. PG. . JRUE HOLIDAY

B-. Buddy Hield’s return from what is quite possibly the worst moment of his NBA career was not a bad one. He did not chalk up a ton of points (eight on 2-7 shooting with two triples), yet he did a great job in other categories. He had five rebounds, three assists and did a great job playing the passing lanes for two steals. Still, his defense is not getting drastically better anytime soon. He got blown by Leandro Barbosa for goodness sake. That’s not good.. SG. . BUDDY HIELD

Solomon Hill actually did chalk up 12 points tonight. Yet, his shooting is still off. He only took five shots, four of them from behind the arc. Where he found his points tonight was at the free-throw line, shooting 7-8. He found a way to draw the fouls and get to the line. Give him kudos for that, in a game New Orleans needed every single point. He defense was pretty okay tonight too.. SF/PF. . SOLOMON HILL. B-

A-. Playing Anthony Davis at the four tonight for a stretch might honestly have won the Pelicans the game. AD put up 24 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks for a pretty solid stat line. However, the big story was his work on the offensive glass late, to save the game for New Orleans. He might not have the energy to get those, if he’s playing center all night. Davis looked very comfortable at the power forward tonight, taking advantage of the Suns’ lack of size at that position. He needs more minutes there, to get him more comfort in games.. PF. . ANTHONY DAVIS

C+. Speaking of Alexis Ajinca, well hey there how are you doing? After playing a total of three minutes in 2017 so far, Ajinca got the start next to A.D., due to injuries hitting New Orleans. He only had five points and three rebounds. There was also the sad truth of his four fouls in 19 minutes. However, the adjustment helped his counterpart in the starting frontcourt quite a bit. Gentry going with Ajinca at the five to start was a decision that might not get a ton of love, but might have been a huge factor in the outcome.. C. . ALEXIS AJINCA

PG/SG/SF. . TYREKE EVANS. B. Tyreke Evans was a key component to a win tonight. Evans put up 15 points, four rebounds and four assists off the bench. More so, he finished his looks in transition. That was extremely important, as the Pelicans got a lot of turnovers from the Suns in this game. The bench has been poor in this recent stretch of games. In one the Pels needed their backups in, Tyreke delivered.

LANGSTON GALLOWAY. B. Langston Galloway hit some big threes, that helped keep the momentum going for the Pelicans. His 3-5 shooting from deep is exactly the expectation off the bench for him. He also had a block. All in all, that’s productive from Galloway.. SG.

E'TWAUN MOORE. B+. E’Twaun Moore continues to be the glue for the New Orleans Pelicans. Moore, after missing last night’s game for personal reasons, was the energy off the bench. He put up 15 points and played defense incredibly well, to get him two steals. His defense is usually the key in these close wins for the Pelicans. He gets in the late-game situations over Hield and shows why he is the steal of the past offseason for New Orleans.. SF/SG.

C. It is kind of tricky to figure out what to make of Donatas Motiejunas on this team. He does well on the rebounds, grabbing seven on the night. However, his shooting has been cold. He shot 2-6 from the field and missed both of his long-range attempts. Defensively, he got torched by Alex Len for most of the game. It was not a great showing from him. The problem is what is to be expected from a guy, who is likely playing out of his position. He’s doing what he can, but the fit is still not translating to consistent success.. C/PF. . DONATAS MOTIEJUNAS