With their season officially on the line on Sunday, the New Orleans Pelicans put forth a putrid first-half effort and a second-half rally would not be enough as they fell to the Spurs, 122-113.
JJ Redick scored a team-high 31 points off the bench while Zion Williamson added 25 points in 27 minutes. Jrue Holiday and Lonzo Ball, though, combined to shoot just 4-of-22 from the field and 0-of-9 from three-point territory.
The Good: The bench
For the second game in a row, the Pelicans’ bench saved the day in the second half. After Frank Jackson and Nicolo Melli pulled New Orleans back into the game on Friday against Washington, it was a lineup of Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jackson, Jrue Holiday, Josh Hart and Jaxson Hayes that pulled the Pelicans back into the contest on Sunday.
The starters brought a pretty lifeless effort (more on that to come) to start the game and barely kept New Orleans in the game in the first half. On Sunday, unlike on Friday, they left it too late to get back into the game. Against a team like the Wizards, you can make a third-quarter run to win by double-digits. Against a team like the Spurs, even a stellar third quarter like the Pelicans had can’t overcome a 20-point deficit.
Honorable mentions: Redick, Williamson
The Bad: The mentality
Alvin Gentry said the team was treating Sunday’s game like a Game 7. Instead, they were run off the court early in the first quarter and lacked anything resembling a Game 7 mentality.
It’s been the same old song and dance for the Pelicans inside the bubble as slow starts have doomed them. Including Sunday’s game, the Pelicans trailed three of their six games by nine points or more in the first quarter and by at least seven points in five of those games.
Spare for a handful of quarters across their six games, the Pelicans hardly ever resembled a side fighting for a playoff spot. The sense of urgency that most would expect a team with their playoff lives on the one to have was never there for New Orleans despite repeated opportunities to showcase it.
Honorable mentions: Non-JJ Redick three-point shooting, the starters in the first half
The Ball: Trending downward
It’s been no secret that Lonzo Ball has struggled with his shot inside the bubble, which is justifiable given the odd circumstances with all of it. But Sunday was the worst he looked across the board.
Even when Ball has struggled with his shot previously in the bubble, he still took jumpers which made defenses at least respect his attempt. On Sunday, he began turning down those open looks. At that point, it gets hard to make a case for keeping him on the floor.
