New Orleans Pelicans suffer embarrassing home loss on Luka’s historic night

Hosting a talented Western Conference opponent at home, the New Orleans Pelicans looked terrible as the Mavericks made easy work of the birds.

Marking their sixth-straight loss after appearing to be turning things in the right direction, the New Orleans Pelicans simply looked lost in their loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.

After crumbling late over the span of their last few losses, the team completely caved in the second half as the West’s fourth-ranked Mavericks made easy work of a shriveling Pelicans club.

It was an ugly night for the New Orleans Pelicans, who really didn’t have anyone playing well on the night outside of Brandon Ingram.

Ingram continued his sturdy season with 24 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals while shooting 8-of-16 from the floor against Dallas.

Outside of the star forward, the Pelicans couldn’t find an edge against Dallas. Especially when the New Orleans Pelicans didn’t have an answer for anything the Mavericks had going in the second half, it seemed like the game would quickly trend towards the eventual blowout margin.

The team shot just 11-for-41 from three-point range on the night, but really struggled to answer a more talented Dallas roster on either end of the floor.

Continuing on course with what’s been an MVP campaign for the 20-year-old leading man, Luka Dončić scored 33 points on 9-of-18 shooting in just 28 minutes. He also posted a career-high 18 rebounds, really embarrassing the Pelicans glass-patrolling unit.

Also adding to the overwhelming Dallas attack, Kristaps Porzingis gave Jaxson Hayes and Nicolò Melli a really hard time on the inside, posting an easy 7 point, 6 board performance in 17 minutes, but also posted a daunting 5 blocks on a young New Orleans Pelicans squad.

Tim Hardaway had his way with the Pelicans defense as well, scoring 12 points in 25 minutes, but spaced the New Orleans defense with ease.

The three leading scorers for the Dallas Mavericks did not appear in the fourth quarter, not that they needed their main cast as the Pels couldn’t make a shot down the stretch.

Overall, the New Orleans Pelicans looked overwhelmed as they took a 118-97 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.

Getting increasingly ugly over the first quarter of the season, the New Orleans Pelicans are running out of answers outside of hoping their injured players can provide a bigger boom than what their starting bunch can provide at the moment.

Nicolò Melli had an interesting night for the New Orleans Pelicans

Even when the New Orleans Pelicans are taking their ugly losses in the first year of this rebuilding process, it’s important for the team to learn what they have in some of their future players.

Rookie Nicolò Melli hasn’t always looked up-to-speed in his NBA minutes but showed interesting results in his 21 minutes tonight against the Mavericks.

Shooting 3-of-7 from the floor and 1-of-4 from three, Melli provided clever spacing for an otherwise confusing Pelicans offensive attack. With J.J. Redick held in check after a hot start, Melli eventually became the team’s spacer-of-choice as the game got out of hand.

Playing an overall pretty sweet game, Melli also contributed 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, and 1 steal despite the loss, giving the rookie a chance to get some key minutes in Alvin Gentry’s rotation.

The New Orleans Pelicans can’t afford Lonzo Ball’s all-over-the-place performances.

When the Pelicans traded for Lonzo Ball, they always knew it was going to be a running experiment, one that would give them mixed results. Tonight against Dallas, we saw the bad Lonzo as the game progressed into key stages.

Starting and playing 30 minutes, Ball posted 6 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 turnover, but it’s the shooting performance that’s truly appalling.

Shooting 35.9% from three on the season, Ball isn’t someone who can have shooting lines like tonight, as he went 2-of-10 from deep and 2-of-12 from the floor as a whole.

Not only was Lonzo Ball ineffective on offense, but he really didn’t give the Mavericks a whole lot to worry about on the other end of the floor. The Mavericks made easy work of a Pelicans defense that looked completely out-of-rotation, allowing Dallas to hit 19-of-45 from three-point range.

The New Orleans Pelicans can’t have games like the one they had tonight, now trending closer towards the bottom of the Western Conference with their 6-15 record.

It seems like a new low point for the New Orleans Pelicans as the Mavericks made easy work of the first game on their team’s back-to-back trip. Seemingly, the Pelicans really need some sort of boost in their team’s energy as they continue to fall apart on this losing streak.