The New Orleans Pelicans lost another close game, falling to the Utah Jazz 120-119. The game ended on a Dejounte Murray game-winning mid-range attempt that was a little too strong, clanking off the back iron. This game wasn’t all bad, but it also wasn’t all good, so for my post-game piece I’m going to give y'all the good, the meh, and the ugly from this one.
The Good: The Pelicans paid the right man
I could’ve gone with Derik Queen, who I thought had another solid second showing, but for my good takeaway, I'm going with Mr. Bey.
After having a nuclear 42-point game in Utah last season, Saddiq Bey clearly likes the rims at the Delta Center because he was in a rhythm immediately. Bey finished with 20 points, three rebounds, and one assist on 8-of-12 shooting coming off the bench for the Pelicans.
In a game where the Pelicans once again struggled to get into their half-court offense and were living off transition baskets, Bey was a nice escape for my viewing experience. Every time he had the rock, I felt better about how the Pelicans' offensive possession was going to end because of his pure shot-making ability.
The baseline postups were money, the pull-up and off-the-catch threes were sick, and the drives to the rack rocked. I did have moments where I questioned the decision to give Bey an extension after one strong year during what was a lost season for New Orleans, but I stand corrected. Honestly, that may be the best thing Joe Dumars has done since taking over, aside from drafting Jeremiah Fears.
The Meh: Zion is back, but this team doesn’t complement him
Zion Williamson, similar to the team's opener, didn’t have a super hot start but really picked it up once he got comfortable and turned it up in the second half. Z finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and three steals while shooting 8-of-13 from the field and 7-of-8 from the line. This game had all the vintage Zion moments and even some new stuff with some defensive playmaking. The issue was he took 13 shots because there’s still not enough space to let him rock out how you’d want him to.
This easily could've been a 30- or 40-burger for Zion because, while the Jazz have size, they are far from an elite defense. But the Pelicans' roster construction made stopping them, particularly Zion, so much easier.
With no shooters around him and Trey Murphy III looking off, the defense didn’t really have to respect anyone from the perimeter, and it allowed them to have a packed Jaren Jackson Jr. led paint all game.
To maximize a talent like Z, giving him shooters to pull defenders away from the basket and for him to spray out to is the method. Not surrounding him with fellow paint or midrange scoring handlers who don’t pose a threat off the ball.
The poor roster building was evident on one of the final possessions of the game, when Dejounte Murray drove to the rim and kicked out to Z on the perimeter, just for him to drive into four different Jazz players protecting the hoop. Why did that happen? Well, one, they knew Z wasn’t taking the three in that situation down one. Secondly, there weren’t any shooters to respect.
This goes back to my biggest beef with the Dumars-led regime. They say they want to win and win with Zion, but they didn’t even attempt to build a roster that suited him.
The Ugly: NOT YVES
This one was an obvious one for the ugly portion of this article. We all saw it: Yves Missi went down with a leg injury and didn’t return midway through the second quarter. After an electric opening night and an awesome start to this game full of energy, the Pelicans once again got bitten by the injury bug. Hopefully this isn’t anything super long-term for New Orleans, and Missi gets well soon, but this truly sucks.
Just when it felt like this group had real stability at the five and maybe even a long-term solution there too, this happened. Yeah, I know that Karlo Matkovic came in, gave good minutes, and was super energetic, but he’s not Missi.
The 22-year-old big was set for an awesome test Saturday night against Nikola Jokic, but now the Pelicans will have to rely on Derik Queen, Karlo Matkovic, and maybe Julian Reese. Yikes.
Add us as a preferred source on Google