New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for dominant win vs. Clippers
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Clippers: Grades for the guards
A-. . Guard. New Orleans Pelicans. LONZO BALL
Another quality performance from Lonzo Ball.
Everyone played well for the New Orleans Pelicans, but Ball was among the standouts. He was aggressive looking for his own offense, just as he was the game before against Spurs. Ball’s three-pointer wasn’t as wet as on other nights, but he still got 18 points. That included a pair of sweet one-legged fadeaways.
The rest of Ball’s game was equally complete. He got his teammates involved, pushed the ball off rebounds, and competed hard on defense. The former UCLA guard was actually asked to defend Paul George a lot of the time and he did a solid job silencing him.
One last thing worth mentioning is that Ball played for nearly 38 minutes, a team-high by a significant margin. That seems to show that he is fully recovered from the hip injuries that have bothered him during the last few months.
A-. . Guard. New Orleans Pelicans. ERIC BLEDSOE
Eric Bledsoe played really well against the team that drafted him into the NBA.
Bledsoe was aggressive from the get-go, which is a stark contrast to how he has typically played in his first season in New Orleans. Maybe he was reinvigorated after sitting out a couple of fourth quarters in recent memory, but this is the Bledsoe most Pelicans fans want to see on a regular basis.
Even if Bledsoe’s outside shot wasn’t going in, he was still productive in other ways. Bledsoe constantly put pressure on the Clippers defense by getting downhill, drawing seven total free throws. He was also active on defense, getting into the passing lanes, playing hard, and making LA’s attackers uncomfortable.
More of this, please.
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B. . Guard. New Orleans Pelicans. KIRA LEWIS JR.
Kira Lewis Jr. wasn’t as good as Ball or Bledsoe, but he still contributed off the bench.
Lewis made a couple of threes, which is something important for him. He is shooting a respectable 35 percent from three, but the key for him in the future is to be seen as someone that you have to guard on the perimeter. That way, his aggressive driving game can really open up.
Overall, I thought Lewis made the right decisions with the ball in his hands. The Alabama draftee only had three assists, but probably deserved more, such as on a beautiful skip pass that left Naji Marshall with a wide open corner three.