New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for clutch win vs. Celtics

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Celtics: Grades for the centers

This low grade isn’t an indictment on Adams’ performance. It’s just that he didn’t have much to do.

On offense, he did what he always does. Adams set some good screens and created space for the New Orleans Pelicans. His synergy with Brandon Ingram is well established by now, but I’d like to see him and Zion Williamson develop better chemistry.

Defensively, Adams wasn’t really featured. The Pelicans had some problems guarding pick-and-rolls throughout the game, but it’d be harsh to put those on the Kiwi center. Most of the time, it was the Pelicans player guarding the ballhandler that made the wrong decision, rather than Adams.

Jaxson Hayes had a better night on offense than defense.

He finished both of the shots he got at the basket and gave a really nice assist to Brandon Ingram on a cut. Besides that, Hayes also wasn’t featured much.

On the other end of the floor, the second-year big out of Texas had a tougher assignment than Adams. Hayes was up against Luke Kornet a lot, who is a legit threat from the perimeter as a stretch big. I don’t think Hayes did poorly, but he was put in a difficult position a lot of the time.

Because the Pels’ guards didn’t do a great job of denying screens or getting over the top of them, that meant Hayes was often faced with the decision of hurrying out to the three-point line to stop a Kornet three or trying to stay in front of the ballhandler while conceding the open outside shot. It was a lose-lose predicament.

Up next, the Pels return to the Smoothie King Center towards the start of the weekend to face the Orlando Magic and the Atlanta Hawks on a back-to-back.