New Orleans Pelicans lose franchise record 12th game in a row

Following a 130-119 loss to the Orlando Magic, the New Orleans Pelicans have now lost 12 games in a row for the first time in franchise history. What comes next?

The New Orleans Pelicans lost their 12th game in a row yesterday against the Orlando Magic, setting a new franchise record for continuous futility. The game was a close, back and forth affair throughout the first half, with several ties and lead changes, but in the third, the Magic took control scoring 41 points to the Pelicans 27.

Orlando’s hot streak continued throughout the first half of the fourth quarter as they extended their lead to 25. While the Pelicans fought back to make it a somewhat respectable 11 point defeat in the end, the game was effectively over long before the final buzzer sounded.

It’s easy to look at the box score and find positives. J.J. Redick, Brandon Ingram, and Jrue Holiday all played well, scoring a collective 73 points on 30-52 shooting while the team as a whole shot 53 percent and 44 percent from 3. However, equally quickly, the problems become apparent.

The Pelicans turned the ball over nearly twice as many times as the Magic and allowed 14 more free throw attempts than they earned, making only 50 percent of their few free throw opportunities anyway.

But watching the game, the Pelicans shortcomings become more glaring. They often looked like a team with no real plan of action, each possession an improvisation that they hoped would turn out okay. This became especially pronounced in the second half as they fell further and further behind, scrambling to catch up, playing more and more desperately as the deficit grew.

The Magic played with a sense of composure and equanimity that the Pelicans lacked. It’s not only a matter of New Orleans needing to play better, but also a matter of being more prepared, more composed, and more of a unit.

With the Pelicans now having their longest losing streak in franchise history, most of the optimism that was present at the start of the season has vanished. There were hopes that this young team would make the playoffs, or at least be in the hunt for most of the season. Instead, they are tied with the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks as the second worst team in the league, just ahead of the Golden State Warriors.

There have been extenuating circumstances, of course. Zion Williamson has yet to play a game. Derrick Favors has missed over half the team’s games while several other important rotation players have also been absent for a number of games themselves. This has kept the team from being able to find any consistency or rhythm and now they often look like a team that has already accepted defeat, or is at least just biding time until Zion’s eventual debut, which should give the team a burst of life.

Unfortunately, things don’t appear to be getting any easier for the Pelicans any time soon. They will be underdogs in every game they play for the rest of December, with the possible exception of a road game against the Warriors this Friday. In light of their next seven games coming against the Nets, Timberwolves, Warriors, Trail Blazers, Nuggets, Pacers, and Rockets, it would not be entirely surprising to see them entering the new year with a 19 game losing streak.

Hopefully for the New Orleans Pelicans, Zion Williamson will be able to make his NBA debut in the next month and the team can begin building for the future in earnest. It’s clear that the team has something in young players Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, and Jaxson Hayes but unfortunately it may require more time than fans had hoped for things to start coming together in a reliable way. The future may still be bright even if the current moment is not.