This is a game Pelicans fans have looked forward to since the schedule was released, it was a big stage that many thought would be a showcase for one of the up and coming powers in the Western Conference. Fast forward to Christmas day and the Pelicans are 9-19 and struggling to find any resemblance of consistency. The game itself was ugly from the beginning as neither team could sustain any type of offense, it was just a sloppy sloppy game throughout that highlighted the Pelicans offensive shortcomings this season. After falling behind 7-0 to start the game the Pelicans were facing an uphill battle all game and were not able to grasp their first lead until late in the 4th when Ryan Anderson tipped in an Anthony Davis miss to give New Orleans a 76-74 lead. New Orleans had a chance to win in regulation with AD getting the last shot but it was to strong. In overtime Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh easily picked apart the Pels culminating in a 94-88 victory for the Miami Heat. The larger story for the Pelicans however has to be the struggles of Tyreke Evans, he played awful in every aspect of the game and its clearer now more than ever that he will not work in a free flowing offense predicated on good ball movement and off the ball cuts. It is a dilemma the Pelicans will need to address soon, as Tyreke Evans is simply to good to just not play but his style is clashing with what all of the other players are trying to do on offense.
This game was all around ugly and New Orleans was lucky to be as close as it was, next game is tomorrow against the Rockets, Happy Holidays everyone.