New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for close loss vs. Sixers

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Sixers: Grades for the guards

Lonzo Ball struggled a little after tying his career-high against the Warriors, but he was still important for the New Orleans Pelicans.

With Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram out, Ball had to take more of an offensive burden but I thought this didn’t come naturally to him. He will probably find a better balance over the next few games, but it’s a sudden shift to go from third option to alpha overnight.

Still, Ball had a solid outing in some respects. His shot wasn’t falling—6-of-18 from the field—but his four made three-pointers still led the Pelicans in that category. The former UCLA Bruin was also active on the glass and competed on defense against a much larger rival.

However, Ben Simmons came up firmly on top against Ball. The Sixers’ all-star snuffed out the Pels’ point guard for most of the night, harassing him with his length, athleticism, and incredible defensive instincts. For me, Simmons is the DPOY frontrunner, so this isn’t necessarily an indictment on Ball.

Eric Bledsoe has turned it up a notch lately and he racked up another solid performance versus Philadelphia.

Bledsoe has excelled recently at getting downhill and then making the right play. This outing was no different for the New Orleans guard, whose shot was not falling but who did plenty of damage aggressively slashing to the basket.

I thought Bledsoe at times made sure that the Pelicans played aggressively and didn’t settle. That sounds contradictory given that he took seven threes, but most of those came within the flow of the offense. Bledsoe got plenty of joy pushing the pace and either attacking the rim or stopping into a short jumper. He also had some bright moments defensively.

Down the stretch, Bledsoe had two big moments: one good and one not as much. He saved the ball from going out of bounds with about 25 seconds left, eventually giving the Pels another chance to win the game or take it to overtime. But when that final opportunity came, Bledsoe had the ball in his hands and turned it over.

Joel Embiid did a good job harassing Bledsoe and staying with his drive, but maybe the latter could have been more accurate on his pass or even kicked it out to Lonzo Ball beyond the arc. However, this is easier said than done when you have Embiid chasing after you.

Kira Lewis Jr. barely played against the Warriors in the Pelicans’ last two games, but he stayed ready and put in a great shift versus the Sixers.

New Orleans’ rookie got plenty of run off the bench, which was a great move since he can often kickstart the Pelicans’ offense. This will be even more necessary to end the season if Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson don’t come back, which seems likely to me.

Lewis had some really nice moments on Friday night. He played typically uptempo looking for his own shot, but he was also keeping his teammates involved and active on defense. Lewis had an incredible self-created 7-0 run to end the third quarter on a positive note for the Pelicans.

First, he had a nice finish around Dwight Howard after a timely cut. Then, he gave the Pelicans a one-point lead after a three in transition. Finally, he came up with a huge steal and capped things off with a rarely-seen dunk.