New Orleans Pelicans awards: Pelicans fall to Jazz 101-87
The New Orleans Pelicans fell behind big early and dropped a second straight game on Saturday. Awards from the disappointing performance.
In yet another heartbreaking outing by the New Orleans Pelicans, the Utah Jazz took care of business at home, winning by a final score of 101-87.
The woes started out early in the first quarter, with the Jazz starters killing the Pelicans. Anthony Davis looked like the only competent NBA player on the floor tonight, as New Orleans couldn’t hit anything outside of a two footer and a free throw. By a miracle from God, they trailed only 23-16 at the end of one behind Anthony Davis’ 14 points.
The second quarter started out even uglier, with the Pelicans only scoring nine points throughout the majority of the period. New Orleans got down by as much as 21 points in the second quarter before a quick 11-0 run sparked a comeback. Behind 21 points and eight rebounds from Anthony Davis, the Pelicans only trailed 48-39 going into halftime.
For all the signs of life that the second quarter provided, it all seemed to go down the drain in the third. The Jazz defense was super stingy all night, holding the Pelicans to just 60 points at the end of three quarters. New Orleans shot 39.3 percent from the field, 16.7 percent from three, and trailed 76-60 at the end of three.
Utah jumped out at the Pelicans at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and it was all over from there. Despite a few late runs, this one was never really in doubt with the New Orleans Pelicans falling to the Utah Jazz 101-87.
MVP – Anthony Davis
There were so many times throughout this game that Davis looked like the only player that even cared. He was their whole team tonight, essentially. He was at the heart of every little run the team had and when he went to the bench, the floor crumbled underneath whatever Pelicans unit was on the floor. Davis finished with 36 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks on 12-18 shooting, another impressive game in yet another Pelicans loss.
LVP – Omer Asik
It is getting old at this point, and its only 17 games into the season. Asik has gotten to the point of being unplayable every single game no matter who they are playing. You would’ve thought that this would’ve been the game for Asik, with the Jazz being a team that plays two traditional big men and like to play slow. They’ve also only scored over 100 points twice this season prior to this game, showing just how slow these guys like to play. Instead, Asik was a whopping -16 in eight minutes, going 0-3 with just two rebounds. That contract looks exponentially worse every minute he is on the floor.
X FACTOR – Anthony Davis
Is it possible to put him in two categories? His energy and effort were the only thing keeping this team alive. As they pushed towards the end, Davis was at the forefront of everything. Hitting mid range jumpers, crashing the glass, getting to the line. He was everywhere and everything for a team that just doesn’t have enough tools around him to eek out some wins right now.
TURNING POINT – Gordon Hayward‘s Circus Shot
The Pelicans had finally made a run and cut it into single digits when Hayward drove the lane, had nowhere to go, and then threw up a garbage circus shot that banked in. That sealed the deal for the Jazz at that point.
DEFINING MOMENT – Every Jazz Pick-and-Roll
The Pelicans wings were getting straight up blown by at times this game. Rodney Hood and Alec Burks feasted on the Pelicans wings time after time in the pick and roll, having open driving lanes to the hoop or an easy pass to the roll guy. The defense on the wing in New Orleans continues to be a problem that likely won’t be able to be fixed with the current personnel they have. Alonzo Gee did a decent job guarding Gordon Hayward, but he isn’t locked in every possession. Dante Cunningham gets to wild on his closeouts and Eric Gordon doesn’t know where to be in help half the time. The offense has bright spots at times, but the defense is almost beyond help at this point.
That was… VALIANT
Anthony Davis literally almost brought the team back by himself. This team was a dumpster fire without him and he was the only one that could do any consistent, positive basketball things on the court. It was a valiant effort by the team’s best player and MVP, just came up to short in the end.
After this back to back, the Pelicans don’t play until Tuesday, when they travel back to New Orleans to face the Memphis Grizzlies. Getting some rest will be key for the guys that are injured and the guys like Davis who are having to play heavy minutes each game while sit out due to injury.