Coming off the New Orleans Pelicans big win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Pelicans were afforded some good news with the return of Eric Gordon tonight. However that good news turned out to be very short lived, as about 30 minutes before tip off it was reported that Anthony Davis would miss the game due to a foot injury suffered in pregame warmups. With Anthony Davis being out it immediately thrust Eric Gordon into a more prominent role. For the Pelicans to beat the upstart Minnesota Timberwolves they would have to lean heavily on the trio of Ryan Anderson,Eric Gordon,and Jrue Holiday. This was a game of runs until the very end, the Pelicans had opportunities to pull away but the Timberwolves repeatedly answered to hang around until the final stretches of the game. The Wolves finally took the lead on a big three by Zach Lavine. From there the Pelicans and Wolves traded baskets with Eric Gordon scoring 11 in the 4th quarter. However the play many will take away from this game is his blocking foul on Andrew Wiggins with 3.4 seconds left. It is unfair to criticize EG for this however as it would have likely been an easy dunk anyway. Wiggins would sink his two free throws and in turn sink the Pelicans as the Wolves walked out of New Orleans with a 112-110 win. Here are the grades from tonights game.
Grades: New Orleans Pelicans 4th Quarter Defense falls apart against Timberwolves
