The New Orleans Pelicans must improve in this area

The New Orleans couldn’t keep up with the Phoenix Suns last night and lost their third in a row to drop them to 2.5 games behind the Kings for the 10th and final play-in spot.

The Pelicans are going through a tough part of the schedule and have been shorthanded, so this is not a complete shock but doesn’t mean their season is over either.

The Suns shot an insane 17-of-31 from 3-point range last night, which is good for 54.8 percent, numbers that would be difficult for any team to overcome.

Unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence for the Pelicans, as they continue to struggle to defend the 3-point line, a problem that has seemed to plague them forever.

When you look at the numbers, it’s an issue that has to be fixed if the Pelicans want any chance to chase down that last play-in spot.

The New Orleans Pelicans do not defend the 3-point line

The Pelicans are dead last in the NBA in opponent 3-point percentage, giving up 37.5 percent from long range, including a woeful 50 percent in their last three games. FIFTY PERCENT!  If you left some teams alone in a gym they wouldn’t hit half of their 3-point shots, so the Pelicans might as well not even be there.

The best 3-point shooting team in the league this season, the Chicago Bulls, shoots 38.5 percent as a team from long range.

So the Pelicans essentially turn every team they face into the best 3-point shooting team in the NBA night after night.

It’s a frustrating problem that doesn’t have an easy solution, as the Pelicans were 26th in this category last season, allowing an even worse percentage, they were 18th in 2019-20 and 25th the year before.

You have to go all the way back to the 2017-18 season to find a New Orleans Pelicans team that was in the top half of the league in opponent 3-point percentage.

With the league fully embracing the 3-point shot, stopping it is almost as important as being able to make them, so this is a problem Willie Green needs to address.