New Orleans Pelicans Awards: Pelicans’ comeback falls short against Charlotte Hornets
By Rick Stone
The New Orleans Pelicans fought to get back into the game, yet fell short against the Charlotte Hornets on the road.
The New Orleans Pelicans could not finish off their comeback attempt on the road as they lost to the Charlotte Hornets 122-113.
The Pelicans’ first half struggles put them far back in the game, falling behind as many as 17 points. Give New Orleans credit though…they did not throw the towel. They fought hard and found a way to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter. From there, the Charlotte Hornets out-executed the Pelicans on both ends to pull away and seal the loss for New Orleans.
Anthony Davis had another fantastic game with 40 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two blocks. Jrue Holiday had one of his best offensive games so far with a career high 38 points to go along with six assists and four rebounds.
Kemba Walker led the charge for the Charlotte Hornets with 35 points, seven assists and two steals.
MVP: Anthony Davis
Seriously, this guy is pretty good at basketball. Anthony Davis took full advantage of the mismatches he had tonight against a Hornets team without the combination of size and athleticism to guard him. Davis put up 40 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two blocks.. He was never afraid to take the shot. He seemed as comfortable as he could be on the floor against the Hornets. They play a style that Anthony could counteract to full effect. At least half of the teams in the league don’t have the proper talent to guard Anthony Davis in the game. It’s up to him to have the confidence and effectiveness to help lead this team. In tonight’s case, he came out full throttle. The injuries make it tough to win on his shoulders, but he gave it his all in this contest.
LVP: Ryan Anderson
Ryan Anderson was a complete non-factor tonight against the Charlotte Hornets. He finished the game 0-8 shooting from the floor, still finishing with three points. And while he did add six rebounds, he was not able to show his strengths yet again on the road. His numbers have fluctuated greatly from when he’s at home to when he’s on the road and it continued tonight. There are a lot of questions as to why the struggles are so mightily on the road, but it’s something that’s becoming consistent enough to be a concern. Whether it’s his comfort when he’s in his home arena or the difference in the opponents nets, this team has not been able to rely on his offense when away from their arena. That’s a big problem going forward with his free agency after this season.
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X-Factor: The Hornets Balanced Scoring
The Pelicans had 78 of their points come from Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday alone. The Charlotte Hornets, on the other hand, had seven players score at least 10 points. The Hornets dominated the game with 122 points at the end of regulation and shot 46.3% from the floor, mainly due to their ball movement and offensive ability of their entire roster. They were rewarded with their aggressiveness all night with 38 free-throws attempted, making 31 of those. It seems each and every player on the floor for Charlotte tonight knew where the offense needed them to be and how to get their best shots on the floor. The Pelicans have depended on trying to set up plays for their best players on the floor. The Hornets are just a balanced roster that’s capable of taking advantage of a banged-up team with glaring weaknesses on the defensive end.
Turning Point: Pelicans offensive execution falls flat late
This seems to be a theme with this New Orleans Pelicans game. Once again, this team was in the game late and just needed to execute their offensive sets well. Tonight, they actually got some good looks. Jrue Holiday had a pretty open layup he shot a little short. However, four of the Pelicans final seven shots of the game were three-pointers. This team was not able to penetrate the Hornets interior defense at all and forced mediocre looks for most of the closing stretch. When you’re trying to beat good NBA teams, you have to be able to attack the basket and collapse the defense. New Orleans did not do it well enough tonight to win.
Defining Moment: Toney Douglas misses an easy one
One of the good looks the Pelicans did get late was a layup for Toney Douglas late. With 1:20 to go in the game, New Orleans found themselves down just six. They ran the ball up and set up a decent play to get Douglas going to the basket. It was a makeable shot, but he missed the look. Anthony Davis was there to get the rebound, but like most of tonight’s game, the Pels were outworked by the Charlotte bigs. The Hornets fought for the rebound and got the foul to stretch the lead and seal the game. While New Orleans fought hard all night, they just didn’t execute late to get the upper hand.
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That was……..an inspiring comeback, but a disappointing ending.
Alvin Gentry does have to be pleased with this team’s energy and fire late in this game. The Pels were down nearly 20 points early in the third quarter and could have very easily quit on this game. Still, they fought tooth and nail to get back into this game and grapple until the end of the contest. That’s heart. When a team is trying to develop a winning attitude, these are the kinds of fights and “never-quit attitude” games fans want to see. It’s not a win, but it’s a good sign.
The New Orleans Pelicans will look to find a road win Friday night in Memphis as they play the Grizzlies. Tip is scheduled for 7:00 PM CST.