New Orleans Pelicans game recap: first defeat of the season

After an improbable win over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night, the Utah Jazz proved too much for the New Orleans Pelicans as they lose their first game of the season.

Heading into the game, the New Orleans Pelicans knew playing the Jazz the second game of a back to back would be a tall task. Having to do it without all world Anthony Davis would be darn near impossible. The Jazz hand the Pelicans their first loss of the season, defeating them by a score of 132-111.

Key stat of the game…

32. The Jazz took a page out of the Pelicans playbook with the way they distributed the basketball. Ricky Rubio lead the Jazz with 12 assists as the Pelicans had absolutely no answer for the Jazz in the halfcourt pick and roll set.

Too often, the Pelicans big was indecisive on whether to stay with the guard or roll back to the basket with the big. Rudy Gobert made them pay dearly for this as he scored 23 points on 11 of 13 shooting, almost all lob dunks. AD’s presence was severely missed tonight.

It was over when…

The Jazz flexed their muscle in the 2nd quarter outscoring the Pelicans by 18 as they turned what was a three-point deficit after the end of one into a 15 point halftime lead. At one point halfway through the quarter, the Pelicans only had four points in total. They finished with just 18 points in the quarter.

The Pelicans reserves did a nice job of cutting into the lead as they got it down to eight with about 6 minutes left in the game. The Jazz then re-inserted their starting lineup and took control down the stretch, led by Rubio who finished with a game high 28 points.

Player of the game…

Anthony Davis. It may be head scratching to call someone who sat out the game with an injury the player of the game, but it was evident from the start. Without AD’s crazy wingspan and athleticism down low, the Jazz got whatever they wanted on offense.

They finished the game with 64 points in the paint. Most of these were uncontested easy layups or lob dunks to the bigs. When the Pelicans offense sputtered in the 2nd quarter, the team looked lost to even set up offensive sets.

Simply put AD’s absence easily showed why he is the league’s most valuable player. His presence masks so many of the team’s deficiencies on a night in and night out basis.

The Pelicans suffer their first loss of the season in large part to AD’s absence. The team must now regroup quickly as they face a rough road trip ahead starting with the Denver Nuggets on Monday night.