New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for crushing loss vs. Spurs

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Spurs: Grades for the guards

Lonzo Ball broke out of his short-lived slump to put up a very good performance in an important game.

Unfortunately, his good game means little after the loss, but it was encouraging to see Ball back to his best after a slow return from his hip injury. The New Orleans Pelicans point guard had 24 points and four assists, even if he did also have four turnovers.

This was a typical showing from Ball, whose great play earlier this season has seemingly been unfairly forgotten because of a trifecta of poor games. I recently wrote about the unfairness of recency bias when it comes to Ball, so I hope he gets credit for this outing.

Ball was more aggressive than usual looking for his shot. He put up a high volume of threes, as he tends to do, but was also willing to get downhill and take some mid-range jumpers.

The former UCLA guard missed a triple with 30 seconds left that could have potentially taken the game to overtime, but it wasn’t a pristine look. Even then, he had hit a crucial three in transition a few minutes earlier.

Yet another game in which Eric Bledsoe sits out the entire fourth quarter.

Bledsoe’s time with the Pelicans has been maddening. There has literally been no consistency at all to his game. He has mostly been bad, but just when it seemed like he had turned a bit of a corner after the trade deadline, he is still capable of putting up duds like this.

Bledsoe wasn’t terrible, but he just tends to not do a whole lot. He’s no longer aggressive attacking the rim, his three-pointer is waning (31 percent in March), and his defense is uninspiring. Simply put, the Pelicans are better when he is not on the court.

While discussing Zion Williamson’s game, I wrote that some pieces need to be shifted and Bledsoe is at the top of this list.

Kira Lewis Jr. only scored five points, but I thought he played fine off the bench.

Lewis made the Pelicans pick up the pace, as he tends to do, and had a couple of nice assists while making a three. He isn’t as effervescent as he was in February, for instance, but I am glad that he continues to get valuable minutes.

The Alabama rookie also competed on defense. Lewis’ output on this end of the floor has been a pleasant surprise for me since he was heralded in college more for his offensive prowess.

If the playoffs are not in the cards for the Pelicans—which, let’s face it, almost seems impossible—then I hope that Lewis gets even more playing time until the end of the season. Maybe the Pelicans will lose more, but at least he gets time to develop, and New Orleans potentially inches closer to a savory lottery pick.