New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for overtime loss vs. Magic

The New Orleans Pelicans suffered a nailbiting overtime loss to the Orlando Magic despite Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s tremendous performance.

The Pels were short-staffed going into the game against the Magic, with Zion Williamson, Lonzo Ball, and Brandon Ingram all missing. This is the first time this season that New Orleans has been without all three of their key players. Their absences meant a rearranged starting lineup, with Kira Lewis Jr. getting a start and new arrival James Johnson also starting in the Pels frontcourt.

Meanwhile, the Magic are completely in rebuild mode. Orlando traded its three best players on the trade deadline, sending Evan Fournier to the Boston Celtics, Aaron Gordon to the Denver Nuggets, and Nikola Vucevic to the Chicago Bulls. Their focus now is completely on the future, as seen with the number of minutes that the likes of Chuma Okeke and Wendell Carter Jr. received.

Still, there is a bit of a juxtaposition given head coach Steve Clifford’s penchant for winning and the organization’s focus on building its young assets. Perhaps Magic fans would have liked to see RJ Hampton or Mo Bamba break the 20-minute mark, rather than 28-year-old Chasson Randle or 30-year-old James Ennis III.

With this loss, the Pelicans continue in the same position that they were in before this game. New Orleans are still 1.5 games behind the 10th-placed Golden State Warriors and a spot in the play-in tournament. It’s a harsh loss on paper, but the Pels lacked scoring punch in a big way.

Here are the player grades for the Pels’ loss against the Magic, starting with my personal MVP:

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Orlando Magic: Grading the best player

Nickeil Alexander-Walker carried the New Orleans Pelicans against the Magic. His numbers were in line with what fans have come to expect from Zion Williamson, for instance.

The Canadian combo guard ended his night with 31 points on 54 percent shooting. He made four of his seven threes, less than his norm as of late but also understandable given the more extensive role he was asked to play in.

Alexander-Walker played with great pace all night. Despite the high volume of shots he took, the Virginia Tech draftee did not get sped up like he might have been at the start of the season. His five turnovers are a consequence of the burden he was asked to take on, rather than anything he did negatively.

Unfortunately, Alexander-Walker suffered the ignominy of a really tough stretch in overtime. With the game still undecided, Alexander-Walker airballed a shot, missed a free throw, and then couldn’t get a layup to roll in. Despite those misses, his teammates and coaches should be quick to remind of him of how well he played.