New Orleans Pelicans Rally to Defeat Kings

94. 29. 86. 69. Final

NORRIS COLE. A-. No one on earth has voiced anti-Cole rhetoric like I have, but he has been absolutely fantastic these past few games. Tonight he dropped 23 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals on 8/19 shooting from the floor and 1/4 shooting from deep. That’s a slightly rough game for LeBron, not a game you should ever see from Norris Cole. Credit where credit is due, Cole has really kept the Pelicans afloat these past few weeks and has actually played well with Jrue Holiday in the backcourt.. .

JRUE HOLIDAY. A+. Jrue and Norris had very similar games, which was bad news for the Kings. He dropped 20 points, 4 rebounds, 10 assists 4 steals, and a block on 9/18 shooting and 1/5 shooting from deep. His three-point slump continues to hold him back, but he is looking comfortable from all the other areas and hit the dagger which sealed this game as a win for the Pelicans. I was initially worried that his production would be wasted playing with Cole, but they both seemed to play off each other well in the starting lineup.  . .

B+. Dante had a solid game, but came up huge towards the end. He had 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 4 steals, and a block on 3/5 shooting and 1/3 shooting from deep. He did his general schtick, up until the last few seconds when he hit a huge three pointer that put the Pelicans up by one with just a few seconds left on the clock. He didn’t have a crazy stat-line, but without that shot the Pelicans probably would have lost tonight barring an absolute miracle. Way to go Dante.. . . DANTE CUNNINGHAM

A-. Davis had a great game. 31 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, an assist and a block on 13/21 shooting and 1/3 shooting from deep. The only issue was his free throw shooting, going 4/9 from the line. Davis doesn’t strike me as a player with unshakable confidence, and when he starts off cold from the line he seems visibly uncomfortable and tends to get in his own head. Other than that he had a great game, outside of some occasional foul trouble and few defensive lapses. He seems to be upping his level of play as the season comes to a close, which is hopefully a good sign in terms of his development for next season.  . . . ANTHONY DAVIS

C. Asik is finally back and healthy enough to get on the court. He only played 13 minutes, and shot 0/2 from the floor, but he did grab 3 rebounds. The 4 fouls in 13 minutes don’t look good, but most of those calls could have easily gone the other way. Not a whole lot to asses, but hopefully he can return to form soon.. . . OMER ASIK

B-. Ryno bounced back tonight. In these past few weeks he has struggled, and had a few atrocious games where he shot horrific percentages from the floor, and then continued to fire away despite clearly being off of his game. Tonight he scored 19 on 6/14 shooting, so he has at least been acceptable on the offensive end. He also chipped in 6 rebounds and 2 assists, but his defense was laughable as ever.. . . RYAN ANDERSON

. . ALONZO GEE. A++. Alonzo Gee gets such an artificially high grade tonight because I’m used to seeing him score 2 points on 0/2 shooting. Tonight he had 9 points on 4/6 shooting to go along with 7 rebounds, so in other words, it was basically a career night for Mr. Gee.  

C-. Douglas has probably over-preformed this season, but tonight he looked like he bit off more than he could chew. Without Jrue to accompany him, he shot 2/9 from the floor and struggled to be a primary creator. It remains to be seen whether the Pelicans can get away with playing Jrue and Cole with in the starting lineup, given that Douglas will be left to lead the 2nd unit on his own. Hopefully he steps up.. . . TONEY DOUGLAS