Kobe Bryant passed the torch to Alexis Ajinca tonight as the New Orleans Pelicans blew out the Los Angles Lakers.
In Kobe’s final game in New Orleans, his team was absolutely decimated by the New Orleans Pelicans. He will be dearly missed by the city, and fans of basketball all over the world. Hopefully the Pelicans are lucky enough to ever have a player with the drive Kobe had, and the talent to make it work. We will miss you Mr. Bryant, even if you shot 4/15 from the floor.
MVP: Alexis Ajinca
Alexis Ajinca had easily the greatest night of his career. He out up an insane stat-line of 28 points, 15 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and 2 blocks while shooting 12/17 from the floor and hitting 100% of his free throws. He looked like Hakeem Olajuwon-lite in the post and was hitting running hooks and fade-aways with multiple defenders in his face the entire night. Games like these frustrate me because I don’t see why Ajinca can’t always be this valuable of a player. He’s 7’2″ with pterodactyl arms, can shoot from anywhere inside the three-point line. He should be the perfect stretch center for an Alvin Gentry pick and pop offense, but for some reason he rarely taps into the fire he displayed tonight.
LVP: Kobe Bryant
(I’ll address Mr. Bryant in 1st person for the duration of this segment).
Sorry Kobe, but you know what you did tonight. I get it, the fans just want to see you throw up some crazy shots and cross a few guys over, but that doesn’t make it okay. You shot 4/15 tonight Mr. Bryant… 4/15! The hard truth is that there are guys on your team shooting 0/1 from the floor who are having less of a negative impact than you are. I can see the looks on your teammates faces when you decide to hoist up a 30 footer with a defender right in your face, and I can tell they are patiently waiting for this train-wreck of a season to be over. Enjoy retirement Mr. Bryant, it’s more than overdue.
X-factor: Dante Cunningham
Ajinca was the MVP, but Dante was the X-factor. He shot 7/11 from the floor, 3/4 from deep, and scored a total of 19 points in the 34 minutes he played. His defense was fantastic as usual, and he was being vocal to his teammates about getting in position and preparing for the play. He had one offensive play in specific where he simply out-ran the Lakers down the floor en-route to a glorious dunk right in front of them. Dante is all hustle, and who doesn’t love a guy who makes up for his lack of talent with a fierce dedication to compete harder than anyone else on the floor.
Turning point: 2nd quarter run
The game was largely neck-and-neck up until the 2nd quarter when the Pelicans finally took the lead. Kobe had dropped 14 points in the 1st quarter on semi-acceptable efficiency, and Alexis Ajinca hadn’t reached his peak level of “I’m going to hit literally any shot I want to” play quite yet. By halftime, the game was effectively over. The Pelicans would eventually reach almost a thirty point lead and the Lakers would never bring it back to within ten.
Defining moment: Kobe’s brick
This was pretty funny. At some point Kobe decided he wanted to come back in, and hobbled up to the scores table. As one might expect, the audience erupted with energy as they hyped themselves up to see Kobe play another precious few minutes. Kobe entered the game, and immediately fired up a contested 30 foot three the second he got to touch the ball. That shot basically defined the game, entertaining and full of nostalgia, but never really competitive or in question.
That was…dangerous!
With the Kings, Knicks, and Nuggets continuing to lose, the Pelicans cannot afford to many more wins. They are currently the 6th worst team in the league, but could quickly jump to 8th or 9th if things go horribly wrong. The only thing saving this season is the hope of the 2016 draft, which the Pelicans are putting in dangerous cross-hairs with these scrappy wins.