New Orleans Pelicans grades: Pelicans steal win on road in Utah
After three plus quarters it looked like the same old New Orleans Pelicans heading for the same old result. Then things changed in a hurry.
The New Orleans Pelicans entered the fourth quarter of Wednesday night’s game against the Utah Jazz trailing by six points and having given up 16 points in one quarter to Derrick Favors. About halfway through the fourth quarter things remained the same thanks in large part to Ryan Anderson putting New Orleans on his back. Eventually the rest of the Pelicans joined in, as New Orleans used a 17-6 run to storm ahead of the Jazz and come away with a 104-94 victory.
94. 118. 104. 69. Final
JRUE HOLIDAY. A. It is becoming harder and harder to say Jrue Holiday should start games when he gets healthy because of how well he is currently playing coming off the bench. Holiday once again made the Pelicans offense look its best thanks to his shooting, passing and understanding of pace. It was just another great performance from Jrue. . PG. New Orleans Pelicans
ERIC GORDON. B. The Pelicans hung around early thanks to a 12 point performance from Eric Gordon. As Nathan always says, Gordon needs to score to be effective and with 19 points on nine shots he did just that Wednesday. . SG. New Orleans Pelicans
B-. The process still was not good in the fourth quarter but Tyreke Evans seemed to be trying to play the way Alvin Gentry wants him to early in the game which was a nice sign. Now he just needs to be effective while doing that. . PG/SG. New Orleans Pelicans. TYREKE EVANS
It is weird to say that a 17 point, 13 rebound night is quiet but that is what happened with Anthony Davis who was strangely out of it in this game. In the end though he made enough plays on both ends to be the difference maker he needs to be for the Pelicans.. PF/C. New Orleans Pelicans. ANTHONY DAVIS. B
OMER ASIK. B-. The defense and rebounding were nice but the other problems in Omer Asik’s game, like his inability to even dunk the ball is problematic. It didn’t feel like he played all that well in his 20 minutes.. C. New Orleans Pelicans
PF. New Orleans Pelicans. RYAN ANDERSON. A+. The Pelicans simply do not win this game without Ryan Anderson and his vast array of step back jumpers, spins and three-pointers. He was an unstoppable offensive force that kept the Pelicans close enough so that their late run made a difference.
SF. New Orleans Pelicans. DANTE CUNNINGHAM. B. I’m not sure how but Dante Cunningham was a plus 14 in 14 minutes which is impressive for a guy who did basically nothing. But he didn’t hurt the team and they won so he gets a good grade.
B-. There was the good like the feed to Omer Asik for his dunk in the third quarter and the bad like the pull-up jumpers that clanged off the rim and the ignoring of a wide open layup. At this point though, three makes on seven shots from Norris Cole is a dang miracle.. PG/SG. New Orleans Pelicans. NORRIS COLE
If Alexis Ajinca is going to play, Alexis Ajicna needs to make shots, especially open ones. He did not tonight and so he did not play much. It was fair and reasonable. . C. New Orleans Pelicans. ALEXIS AJINCA. D
B. At points it feels like Alonzo Gee does not realize that he only gets a finite number of fouls each night. When he is on the floor and not fouling he does make a positive impact though . SF. New Orleans Pelicans. ALONZO GEE
SF. New Orleans Pelicans. ISH SMITH. INC. Making Ish Smith stand in a corner for two minutes is a waste of Ish Smith.
Other observations:
- The Pelicans won this game but there were still a bunch of mind-blowing mistakes, especially Tyreke Evans’ foul at the end of the first half. There is no place where reaching in 60 feet from the basket with time running out is a good idea and Evans did just that. Until things like that get cleaned up it is hard to get too excited over this team.
- The same goes for selfish plays like Norris Cole holding the ball at the end of the first half instead of throwing a ball towards the rim. That shot may not go in but you can’t make a shot you don’t shoot. That ball has to be launched and Cole not doing it is not a good sign. It was nice to see Anthony Davis a bit annoyed with the play after it happened.
- Utah killed New Orleans when they ran the pick-and-roll, hit the roll man and had that guy turn and throw passes to the corner for open corner threes. In the fourth those shots didn’t go in but teams will surely keep exploiting the Pelicans defense until that is fixed.
- They will also continue to put Omer Asik in pick-and-rolls like Utah did tonight with some success.
- Asik also needs to start pretending to be part of the offense. At one point early in the game he started to sprint back on defense after an Eric Gordon pump fake. Too often he never sets foot inside the three-point line on a half court offensive possession. The Pelicans cannot be forced to play five on four offensively right now. They aren’t good enough five on five at the moment.
- Who knows if this game means anything or was just a case of a late collapse by the opponent. Only time will tell.
The Pelicans return to action on Friday when they take on the Phoenix Suns.