Instant Reactions to the New Orleans Pelicans 109-99 Win Over Memphis

The New Orleans Pelicans have to make their free throws.

Free Throws Are Killing the Pelicans

I hate to end on a negative note when so many good things happened tonight, but the Pelicans’ free throw shooting is driving me insane.

They are one of the worst free throw shooting teams in the league, which makes no sense considering they are near the top of the league in three-point shooting.

Fred Vinson has been able to work magic with some of the Pelicans from behind the arc but so far it has not translated to the free throw line.

The Pelicans were 24-39 for an abysmal 61.5 percent. Their average for the season isn’t even good and this was 11 points behind that.

I applaud the Pelicans for being aggressive and getting to the rim, which was clearly part of their game plan. They were able to draw contact and get to the line, particularly in the first quarter, when Brandon Ingram’s eight free throws kept the Pelicans offense alive.

They need to keep this up, as the Pelicans are a better team when they are penetrating and being aggressive, but my god, make a free throw.

Ingram missed four, Zion missed five, Favors missed two and Holiday and Lonzo both missed one. Even J.J. Redick missed two in a row at one point which made me wonder if bad free throw shooting was contagious.

The Pelicans were able to hold on tonight, but in a close game, this matters. Their failure in clutch time has been a problem all year, and it mostly revolves around their poor free throw shooting.

This was a nice win for the New Orleans Pelicans and hopefully the first step of them turning things around.

The energy and defense got the job done tonight and will hopefully carry over.

We’ll have more coverage tomorrow, including player grades. LET’S GOOO!