The New Orleans Pelicans fell tonight to 13-23 after another loss to the Eastern Conference, this time at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks.
The game started with very little focus being paid to the tiny orange ball that tall men were bouncing on the wood surface below them; Atlanta Hawks sharpshooter Kyle Korver had been dealt before the game to the Cleveland Cavaliers. All eyes immediately turned toward his playing status, regardless of their matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans.
By the end of the night, the Atlanta Hawks continued that disquietude by beating the Pelicans in New Orleans, despite being on the road for the second game of a back-to-back. Lacking a superstar-level performance tonight, the Hawks won instead through a balanced offensive attack: six players scored 7 or more points, and the team made 42% of their field goal attempts.
Given one last shot to improve their record before a brutal ten-game road trip, the Pelicans failed to capitalize. Besides a few standouts, it was a pretty disappointing night for most of the team:
Next: Anthony Davis fourth in initial All-Star results
Final Takeaways
- The Pelicans completely lost the transition battle, a huge no-no considering that’s a place they try to gain an advantage. They were outscored by ten in fast break points, despite tying the Hawks in team turnovers.
- Donatas Motiejunas was out of the lineup, and Alvin Gentry said before the game that he is more likely to make his debut during the team’s upcoming road trip. I, for one, would love to see him help out on the glass as soon as he plays.
- The adjustment period for Anthony Davis’s full-time move to the five has gone on too long. He still struggles to balance his energy between offense and defense, and the spark he could conjure when needed early in the year is gone except for in the most dire of situations; what happened to that pull-up jumper that would come out of nowhere in November?