New Orleans Pelicans Awards: Pelicans too slow to keep up with Phoenix Suns

The New Orleans Pelicans were too slow to keep up with the Phoenix Suns, losing in the second-to-last home game of the season.

After defeating the Los Angeles Lakers yesterday, the New Orleans Pelicans looked painfully tired and lacked intensity in their 121-100 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

The New Orleans Pelicans could not keep up with the young and energetic Phoenix Suns in the second game of a back to back after their win last night against the Lakers.

The Pelicans fell behind early in their contest with the Phoenix Suns, trailing by eight heading into halftime. The second half just put the nail in the coffin, as the Suns outscored New Orleans 66-53 in the second half.

Toney Douglas ended the game with the most points for the Pelicans with 23 to go along with five assists. Luke Babbitt also had a strong showing with 17 points to go with nine rebounds.

Archie Goodwin led the Phoenix Suns in scoring with 24 points.

MVP: James Ennis

Tonight’s game was actually a really tough contest for the MVP of the game, especially with how bad New Orleans played. Forced to pick one winner, the best player for the Pelicans tonight ended up being James Ennis. Sure, Ennis took some really poor shots on the night to finish with 18 points on 8-16 shooting. That being said, it was the first game seeing Ennis help his team in other factors. He finished the game with four offensive rebounds, showing his ability to crash the glass. He also finished the contest with three steals, showing his ability to play strong help defense and attack Phoenix’s weaker dribblers inside. The team knows he can score effectively, but what will get him another NBA contract is to show other things he can do to help the team. He did that tonight.

LVP: Alexis Ajinca

After last night’s game, this may seem a little shocking. Still, Alexis Ajinca had a horrific game overall tonight. Ajinca finished the contest 2-9 from the floor for four points and a lack-luster four rebounds. The Suns’ bigs really made this game a tough battle for Ajinca inside. It also doesn’t help Phoenix’s bigs could come out and contest his mid-range jumpers, forcing him into uncomfortable positions on the floor. Ajinca also left the contest tonight with a right shoulder injury and could become a question for the final two games. With the freedom to show his offensive efficiency, an injury was the worst case scenario for Alexis. Tonight’s game overall really ended up being the worst-case scenario. 

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X-Factor: Ice cold shooting all around

The New Orleans Pelicans could not get the shots to fall on the second game in two nights. After shooting 53.2% against the Lakers last night, the Pelicans shot a disappointing 41.1% from the field in tonight’s game. New Orleans also could not hit the long range shots tonight as they finished 7-21 from behind the three-point line. The Pelicans could not hit their shots, probably due to fatigue and lack of intensity. The other major factor was the amount of poor shots this team took tonight. Guys like Jordan Hamilton constantly took contested and extremely poor looks due to Phoenix’s length and speed on defense. It was just a rested team beating up and dominating a banged-up and tired team.

Turning Point: Pelicans defense second half collapse

The Pelicans defense was not as big a disaster in the first half, due to Phoenix’s minor struggles to score. In the second half, however, that changed rapidly. While the Phoenix Suns finished the first half with 55 points, they went on a tear in the second half to close the game, finishing with 66 points in the final 24 minutes. All 11 of the Suns players in this contest made at least one shot on the night and the 10-25 shooting from behind the three-point line sure helped the young Phoenix squad close this game with authority. To put it simply, one team’s basket looked bigger than the Pacific Ocean. That was the Suns.

Defining Moment: Tyson Chandler alley-oop throwdown brings back memories

It had to be a fond memory for Pelicans fans to watch Tyson Chandler dunk in New Orleans once again. With 4:50 left in the first quarter, the Phoenix Suns ran a pick-and-roll between Devin Booker and Chandler. Tyson found open space while Booker found him, lobbing the ball up for Chandler to throw down with emphasis. Even though it was against the Pelicans, it was a great play that brought back wonderful memories of Chandler’s days in New Orleans, where he caught plenty of the same lobs from former New Orleans player Chris Paul. In a depressing season overall, it was nice to be reminded of better times tonight. Even if it was brief.

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That was………a disappointing home performance.

Alvin Gentry can’t be pleased with his team’s attitude in this contest. Sure, this is a loss that can be blamed on the back-to-back sluggishness, but that is not a strong excuse for the team’s lack of intensity for most of the contest. This seemed more like a team that voluntarily went into auto-pilot once the second half began. Not inspiring to end the season.

The New Orleans Pelicans will look to give their fans one final home win against the Chicago Bulls Monday night. Tip is scheduled for 7:00 PM CST.