The New Orleans Pelicans' five-game win streak comes to an end with a 141-113 blowout loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Pelicans looked exactly how fans should have expected them to look. What I mean by that is they looked like a team that was on the second night of a back-to-back and had played four games in five nights. In simple terms, this group looked tired.
During the first half, the Pelicans put up a solid fight, staying within 9 points at halftime. However, the lack of energy and attention to detail defensively, specifically on the perimeter, made it easy for the Cavs to pull away. The Pelicans were outscored 41-31 in the third and allowed six threes.
If you remember, during Monday's matchup with Dallas, the Pelicans couldn’t stay attached to Klay Thompson in the first half. He was 5/9 from three and had 20 points, and tonight it was the same story with Sam Merrill. The Cavs guard had 14 points and four threes after the first half, and they didn’t adjust.
New Orleans just really lacked energy and gave up 27 second-chance points. They also clearly missed the defensive skill set of Herb Jones, who would have helped limit the Cavs' three-point barrage. Another guy they missed was Jordan Poole, who sat out with an ankle injury, as his shot-creation and three-point shooting would have helped in this one.
That said, in the modern NBA, it’s hard to be a winning team without elite three-point-shooting personnel, which is one of the Pels' most significant weaknesses. You just aren’t going to win games shooting 26 threes, especially when playing a team like Cleveland that is around the top of the league in threes made per game. Being outshot 49-26 from distance is never a winning recipe.
The biggest bright spot in this game was a surprise
Despite losing this game, Derik Queen had an unreal second half, scoring 19 points across quarters three and four. He finished the game with 21 points, seven rebounds, and five dimes.
But the big man I want to shine light on is someone who got a DNP the night before against Dallas: Yves Missi. I recently wrote about how Missi's spot in the Pelicans' rotation may be nonexistent going forward, as with the emergence of Karlo Matkovic. However, tonight when the Pelicans were getting outmatched on the boards, James Borrego called Missi’s number, and he responded.
He was instant energy and really helped New Orleans get back in this game in the second quarter. Missi came in and was active on the glass, had an and-one, and was terrorizing teams in the two-man game with Jeremiah Fears. Three of Fears' five assists came off Missi buckets.
While his box score looks like nothing crazy, with seven points and two rebounds in 13 minutes, he had a massive impact. And what really impressed me was just his readiness to play and contribute, even with his minutes being inconsistent as of late.