The New Orleans Pelicans were blown out at home against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night, losing 143-114 in an awful performance.
This piece was produced by Pelican Debrief Staff Writer Drew Martin, whose name is not featured as author due to technical difficulties.
Coming off of a great collective effort against the Orlando Magic to start their six-game homestand, the New Orleans Pelicans looked to keep rolling against the league’s worst team in the Brooklyn Nets, but were ultimately blown out by an astounding 29 points.
Against Orlando on Wednesday, Davis went for 21 points and 14 rebounds and the Pelicans were able to generate some quality offense with five other players scoring in double-digits. That success made it seem as if the matchup with the laughable Nets would be a breeze, but it simply wasn’t the Pelicans’ night.
Davis continued his incredible play in the first half, going for 22 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks, but had to head to the locker room early before halftime. After the break, Davis was noticeably gimpy, slowing down his entire game before he eventually had to sit in the third quarter due to foul trouble.
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Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans struggled from the floor early, digging themselves a huge hole. Dante Cunningham was serviceable with 14 points on 5-7 shooting (4-6 from three), and Terrence Jones fought hard throughout with 13 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, but it was far from enough to make a difference.
On top of the slow start, the Pelicans gave up the most points in a single game that they have all season, including surrendering a whopping 43 points in the third quarter. The guards failed to move the ball until the shot clock had dwindled, leading to inefficient and just-plain-bad shots. The Pelicans failed to hit the boards offensively as well, meaning that these missed shots resulted in fast breaks and easy transition buckets throughout.
The loss was painful due to the fact that the Pelicans beat the Nets just eight days ago, but it’s tough to beat a team that shoots 15-30 from beyond the arc as the road team.
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It was a rough one for the New Orleans Pelicans and it doesn’t get any easier as they take on LeBron James and the reigning NBA champion the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CST.