Awards: New Orleans Pelicans fall to Lakers 99-96
The New Orleans Pelicans looked to snap a two game losing streak as they hosted the lowly Los Angeles Lakers.
Let me rephrase so we can accurately capture what took place tonight. The New Orleans Pelicans who won 5 of 7 during their last homestead; the same New Orleans Pelicans who have constantly talked about making a playoff push. The same New Orleans Pelicans who are 13-11 at home this season hosted the Western Conference bottom feeding Los Angeles Lakers.
Regardless of the game being the second of a back to back, the Pelicans must find a way to win this game. Instead, the Pelicans came out sluggish on both sides of the ball, letting the Lakers storm out to an 13-2 lead. The Pelicans would eventually come back to win the first quarter, which is why it was expected the Pelicans to take control of the game. This never came to fruition, in fact the Pelicans were completely lost on defense and even worse on offense. Besides Anthony Davis and Bryce Dejean-Jones, the Pelicans had no rhythm. Finally, however the Pelicans showed life with about three minutes left to make it interesting. The final minutes were actually quite thrilling, let me recap them in bullet point form.
- Anthony Davis missed wide open fast break dunk.
- Dante Cunningham missed wide open dunk.
- Ryan Anderson dunked on Kobe.
- Kobe hit a dagger three on other end.
- Down three, the Pelicans waste 15 seconds before fouling.
Now, onto awards….
MVP: Kobe Bean Bryant
Kobe was his usual shot chunking self tonight; it was not some otherworldly Kobe performance, but he made very timely shots and the crowd ate it up. He finished with 27 points on 10-24 shooting, but his big shots down the stretch closed it out for the Lakers.
LVP: Norris Cole
Norris Cole played abysmally on Thursday night, and he scored just 2 points on 1-10 shooting. He took his usual bad shots and his defense was horrendous. The advanced numbers point to Cole being a complete net negative, and he is not going to be here long term so it would make sense to see his minutes given elsewhere.
X-Factor: Bryce De Jean-Jones
I know the Pelicans lost, but he kept this game from being out of hand. Everyone is starting to become a big fan of this kid. He plays with a lot of effort and is knocking down shots. On Thursday night, he got baskets in a variety of ways: BDJ knocked down jumpers and regularly attacked the rim. Having a young player show some promise is very refreshing. He finished with a career high 17 points on only 10 shots and made a number of hustle plays to give the Pelicans an extra possession.
Defining Moment: Anthony Davis Misses Open Dunk
Anthony Davis played spectacular. He was carrying this team on his back, but late in the 4th with the Pelicans trailing by 7, Ryan Anderson corralled a loose ball and threw it up court to a streaking Anthony Davis with literally no one in front of him. This would have been huge! A thunderous dunk by your young superstar to bring the game within 5, instead the impossible happened, and the ball slipped. Anthony Davis missed probably the easiest shot he had all night.
That was…..frustrating
Few things could get me upset this season. it is bad enough to lose, but losing at home to the Lakers will always bring me frustration. For a team that has just finished playing its best basketball of the season, a loss to the Lakers is unacceptable. This team had so many fundamental errors and mental mistakes, and it goes deeper than just simple coaching (that has not been good either).
Final Notes
I would like to address a sequence late that was inexcusable, the Pelicans were down 2 with about 21 seconds to go. They have a foul to give and try to trap the ball handler, which does not work. Then, they cannot chase down Kobe Bryant, and they finally foul with 6 seconds left. They have to immediately foul again because they had a foul to give. The Pelicans wasted 15 seconds trying to foul which forced them into a desperation three at the end. I am sure this is not what Alvin Gentry intended, but either way, execution that poor in a pivotal moment is mind boggling.