Pelicans’ defense, balanced offense lead the way to rout of Blazers

NEW ORLEANS – All season long, Solomon Hill has been telling anyone who would listen that the New Orleans Pelicans’ identity would have to be found on the defensive end of the court.

On Tuesday night, he showed just how right he could be as the Pelicans destroyed the Portland Trail Blazers 100-77 at the Smoothie King Center.

The win was even more important in the context of the Western Conference playoff chase, with Portland sitting ninth in the standings with New Orleans entering the contest 5.5 games out.

“The defense has always kind of been there for us,” said Hill. “Everybody is really getting caught up and it’s what we want to do defensively.”

DeMarcus Cousins led six players in double figures with 22 points and Anthony Davis added 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Jordan Crawford reached double figures for the fourth consecutive game since joining the Pels, leading all reserves with 13 points.

Damian Lillard had a game-high 29 points to lead Portland. Shabazz Napier was the only other Blazer to reach double digits, finishing with 10 points. C.J. McCollum, with Hill as his primary defender for much of the night, was held to eight points on 4-of-12 shooting.

“C.J. McCollum and Damian Lillard can average together 65 points easily,” added Hill. “We take one of the heads of the snake away and it changed the game. Damian can go out there and get as many as he wants, but if you quiet C.J. just a little bit, they’re a different team, and just knowing that affects the game.”

The 77 points were the fewest allowed by the Pelicans all season and the fewest scored by Portland this year. The Blazers converted just 27 of 76 shot attempts (30.3 %), the lowest output by any New Orleans opponent so far.

The Pelicans also held Portland to just two second-chance points and 18 points in the paint, both season-lows.

The Trail Blazers came into the game averaging just under 120 points per game over their last six contests.

“I thought Solomon (Hill) did a great job on C.J. (McCollum) and obviously Jrue (Holiday) did a good job on Damian (Lillard),” said Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry. “(Lillard) had that little spurt there where he got going, but for the most part, we felt like we had him under control and then after that, when you get broken down, the backside of your defense has to be good and I thought we did a really good job of – even when those guys got beat, of being able to step up and take away some of the easy stuff that they usually get.”

The game certainly didn’t look like a runaway from the outset. The first quarter was extremely sluggish as both teams tried to find their way. The Pelicans put together a 7-0 run to close the quarter and take an early 23-16 lead. Portland was 4-of-20 shooting in the period.

“The first quarter we didn’t shoot the ball well,” said Trail Blazers Head Coach Terry Stotts. “I thought we were loose with the ball even though we only had two turnovers; but the turnovers caught up with us in the second quarter. We just could never really get on track offensively.”

Early in the second quarter, New Orleans held a 31-28 lead. Portland would commit four turnovers over the next four minutes as the Pelicans went on a game changing 12-0 run.  During the run, Davis would roll his ankle and head to the locker room and would not return until the outset of the third quarter.

But his frontcourt mate Cousins would step up in his absence, scoring eight of New Orleans’ 12 points during that spurt as New Orleans suddenly led by 15. The Pelicans would take a 50-36 lead into the locker room at the half.

With Davis and Cousins back on the floor in the third, New Orleans continued to pour it on, opening the quarter with an 8-2 run. Portland would cut the lead to 16 on a Lillard three-pointer, before Boogie Cousins found Anthony Davis for a beautiful 180-degree alley-oop slam that brought the crowd to its feet and effectively ended the night for the Trail Blazers.

Portland made just 11 shots in the second half and got no closer than 18 points the rest of the way.

“I’d put it up there in the top five (of his career),” Davis said with Cousins standing next to him. “I just went to go set the screen for Jrue, and he made the quick pass to DeMarcus and he threw it a little short so I had to go get it…(Laughs) It was a nice one, definitely in my top five.”

This was one of those nights when the potential of the Davis/Cousins pairing is on full display, especially defensively. The two combined for five steals and five blocked shots.

Cousins knows that this is still a work in progress but he feels good about the direction the team is headed.

“I think it’s tough to score in the paint around us,” said Cousins. “Do we have it down pat chemistry-wise all the way? No. But I think you can see the potential and I think you can see us growing each game. If we continue on the path we’re on right now I think we can be a scary tandem down in the paint.”

“I think it can become something special, it’s just going to take some time. It’s a b—- for bigs (facing them). You think get a break when one guy goes out and another one’s coming in or you have to pick your poison when both of us are on the floor.”

Now for the first time in the Davis/Cousins era, the Pelicans have won back-to-back games. With just 15 games remaining in the regular season, New Orleans must string together more than a couple of wins to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.

If Cousins and Davis can continue to work this way together, and if the role players can continue to show up as they did Tuesday, the Pelicans may just get there.

If.

 

 

Pelicans lose to Toronto 94-87, extend losing streak to four games

NEW ORLEANS – Another night, another struggle, and another loss for the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Pelicans fell to 2-6 since the All-Star break, dropping a 94-87 decision to the visiting Toronto Raptors. It was New Orleans’ fourth straight loss to the Raptors and their 12th in the last 15 meetings between the two.

DeMarcus Cousins had a team-high 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Pels, but it wasn’t enough to get New Orleans the win.

All-Star Anthony Davis went down with a left wrist contusion after trying to convert an alley-oop late in the second quarter. He finished the game with seven points and four rebounds in just over 17 minutes of action. X-rays were negative.

Jonas Valanciunas was Cousins’ foil for the Raptors, matching the Pelicans big man with 25 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.  Toronto had four players reach double figures.

The story of the night was the Pelicans’ poor offense. New Orleans shot 42.5 percent from the floor, including making just 24 shots over the final three quarters.

“You can’t expect to win a game scoring 87 points,” said Head Coach Alvin Gentry. “You gotta get the ball in the basket, and we didn’t get the ball in the basket.  You give up 94 points at home, you gotta win the game; you gotta find a way to get 95.”

The Pelicans have been the NBA’s worst offense since the break, nearly two points worse than the Los Angeles Lakers and five points worse than the Sacramento Kings.

New Orleans was particularly putrid down the stretch.  The Pels made two of their last 10 shots over the final 7:12, letting the Raptors outscore them 14-7 during that span.

With Davis out of the lineup, the Raptors turned their attention to Cousins.  Toronto double and triple-teamed Cousins every time he touched the ball, forcing him to look to get others involved. After scoring 18 points in the first half, Cousins was limited to seven after the break.

“I thought once you control the ball you have built in help everywhere else,” added Raptors coach Dwayne Casey. “We did a much better job of controlling the ball (in the second half) and allowed stunts to get to certain people, stunts to get to Cousins, not fully rotate to him but stunt and get back…That was our biggest adjustment. We should have been doing it in the first half, but we did a much better job in the second half.”

“We got a little stagnant on offense,” said Cousins. “I don’t think we moved the ball well enough to take advantage of the double teams they were throwing at us. We’ve got to do a better job of playing out of it, and gotta be more aware of the situation and just learn from it.”

One of the players unable to take advantage was Jrue Holiday.  Holiday was held to seven points on three of nine shooting and finished with a +/- of -12, worst on the team.  For the fourth time in his last eight games, Holiday failed to reach double figures.  He also committed three turnovers, though his decision making was spotty at best.

“We can’t overthink the game,” added Gentry. “We talked about that and we talked about it again the other day. I just want him to be Jrue Holiday. The point guard thing, adjusting and all of that…just be Jrue Holiday and play like he plays and he’ll be fine.”

Holiday left the locker room without comment.

One of the few bright spots during this current two-game losing streak has been the play of recent addition Jordan Crawford.  After scoring 19 against Utah, Crawford came off the bench to score 10.

“That’s instant grits, man,” said Cousins of Crawford. “I’ve known Jordan since we came into this league, one thing I know is he can put that ball in the basket. He’s coming in, he’s a spark off the bench for us right now. We love his aggressiveness. We love his approach to the game and he’s helped so far these past two games.”

Crawford hasn’t had his first practice yet, but the team has found a way to get him going.

“Well, they’re making it easy on me, keeping the package small,” said Crawford. “Whenever there is a play, they put me in the right spot and tell me where to go. “They’re making it easy on me, just taking it one day at a time.”

Whatever Crawford’s secret is, he may want to share it with the rest of his backcourt mates. The Pelicans offense is in dire need of a jumpstart, and with only 17 games remaining in the season, time to get things going is quickly running out.

New Orleans hits the road to take on the Charlotte Hornets (28-36) Saturday night before coming back to the Smoothie King Center to host the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday.

What to do with Jrue

NEW ORLEANS – When the New Orleans Pelicans acquired DeMarcus Cousins, it was said by some that the Pelicans now had their “Big Three” in place with Cousins, Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday.

Davis and Cousins have done a good job of living up to their billing, averaging a combined 58.6 points (50.7 pct. Shooting), 22.6 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.6 blocked shots.  Unfortunately, Holiday has been missing in action as New Orleans has lost its last three games by an average of 17 points per contest.

The Pelicans’ point guard is averaging 10 points per game during that span, his worst of the season.  For the season, Holiday is shooting just under 46 percent; over the last three games his shooting percentage is down to 29 percent (11-38).

It gets worse.

Holiday is making 14 percent of his three-pointers and turning the ball over more than five times each night.  Both his assist and steal numbers are down as well.

Yes, as with every column about the Pelicans these days, we must offer the caveat that this team is a work in progress. But the very notion that Holiday is worthy of being placed in the category of Davis and Cousins is just wrong.

Jrue Holiday is a good basketball player.  He’s averaged 14.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in his career.  Those are solid numbers, but they serve to prove that Holiday’s lone All-Star campaign in 2012-13 was an aberration and shouldn’t be an expectation moving forward.

Holiday is also a free agent at the end of this season. After earning more than $11 million this season, he’ll certainly be looking for a pay raise. Especially when he looks down the bench and sees Omer Asik making $10 million and Solomon Hill making $11 million.  Relative to the value of those two players, Holiday could easily ask for $18-20 million annually in negotiations.  Increasing his value to the Pelicans is the lack of experienced and effective guard play and the limited options the team will have in free agency.

The list of available point guards is bleak, especially ones ready to start:

• Derrick Rose – injury prone, overpaid and past his prime.
• Stephen Curry – not a chance of him leaving Golden State.
• Jeff Teague – not necessarily an upgrade over Holiday.
• George Hill – effective, but age and injury are concerns.
• Darren Collison – a familiar name, but a career backup.

After that, just a series of retreads or unproven youngsters. Even if the Pelicans wanted to take a flyer on a less expensive point guard, the market for wing players is just as thin, meaning there is no third star out there this offseason.

That makes it critical that Holiday play good-to-very good basketball each and every night. Unless the Pelicans can pull off another amazing trade, this is pretty much the team we’ll see next season as well.

Is that good enough to become one of the top four teams in the Western Conference?  I don’t think so.  But this experiment has no chance of working if Holiday continues to struggle. There will be some tough assessments to be made by Dell Demps and/or Alvin Gentry this offseason.  None will be tougher than what to do with Jrue.

 

Davis’ 33 leads New Orleans past Pistons, 109-86

NEW ORLEANS – Without DeMarcus Cousins in the lineup, the new New Orleans Pelicans look a lot like the old New Orleans Pelicans. Tonight, that wasn’t a bad thing.

Anthony Davis scored a game-high 33 points and Jrue Holiday broke out of his slump, adding 22 to lead the Pelicans to a 109-86 win over the visiting Detroit Pistons.

It was the first win for the Pelicans since the All-Star break.

Prior to the game, Head Coach Alvin Gentry felt like Holiday needed to be a catalyst, especially with Cousins out.  Holiday came out and scored the team’s first two baskets, setting a tone with his aggressiveness.

“I think Jrue is such a conscientious kid that I told him he was trying too hard to be a point guard, and we just need him to be Jrue Holiday,” said Gentry.  “We just had a talk about him being aggressive and picking his spots and just playing and not worrying.”

“In order for us to be really good, then Jrue has to go back to being Jrue and not worry about being so much a facilitator, he’s going to do that anyway, but I think he’s got to be aggressive on the offensive end.”

Jrue took the words to heart. “Obviously when your coach tells you something over and over and over and over it kinda resonates.”

Holiday’s four points were the only ones that he scored in the period, but Anthony Davis continued his string of hot starts with 16 points in the first quarter.  Davis reached double figures in the first quarter for the third straight game and the 26th time this season.

Alexis Ajinca got into the act as well, coming off the bench with eight points, five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots as the Pelicans built a 31-18 lead after 12 minutes.

“I know it’s tough for (Alexis) because he doesn’t see the floor a lot, but he always stays ready,” said Davis. “He’s always in the gym working and he came out tonight and played aggressive for us; played well, rebounding the ball, scored…all that stuff.  That’s what we need from him.  Whenever your number is called you have to be ready.”

With the reserves in the game for much of the second quarter, the Pistons would claw their way back into the ballgame.  Jon Leuer had 10 of his 22 points in the frame and Tobias Harris added seven.

Outside of Davis, who went 3-for-4 in the quarter, the rest of the Pelicans were ice cold. The other Pels were 4-of-16 from the floor and 1-for-7 beyond the arc as the team was outscored 32-22, leaving New Orleans with a tenuous 53-50 lead at the half.

But it was a resurgent Holiday who helped the Pelicans open the third quarter on a 18-10 run.  He scored eleven points during that stretch as New Orleans extended its lead to 71-60 halfway through the period.

Again, the Pistons came back, closing to within six points with under two minutes to go in the third. But the game would take a sharp turn.  Following an Andre Drummond blocked shot, Tim Frazier slipped behind the Detroit center and stole the ball.  He and Drummond became tangled up before the 6-11 Drummond pushed 6-1 Frazier in the head, resulting in a Flagrant 2 being called and Drummond’s ejection from the game.  He left with 13 points and 17 rebounds.

Detroit guard Ish Smith thought it was the turning point of the game.  “He was impressive tonight, it’s just unfortunate,” Smith said.  “He was very, very dominant tonight and (the ejection) made a difference.”

Frazier kept his composure, and his teammates were quick to come to his aid.  Though, to hear Frazier tell it, he wasn’t worried at all.

“I’m not going to back down from anybody,” said Frazier. “It’s how I was raised, and I had to fight for a lot of stuff to get where I am, to be successful.”

“Tim is tough,” added Davis. “He loves the game of basketball, he’s passionate about it.  We gotta make sure that we don’t lose him, because he comes in and plays well for us, off that bench running that second unit.”

New Orleans ended the third quarter up by eight, 78-70.  Detroit would cut the lead to six on a Tobias Harris jumper with 10:40 to play, but from there it was all Pelicans.  The Pels went on a 19-8 run over the next seven minutes.  Dante Cunningham was the primary beneficiary, scoring 10 of his 16 points during that span. E’Twaun Moore had eight points in the final quarter, becoming the fifth Pelican to reach double figures as he finished with 11.

New Orleans closed the fourth outscoring Detroit 31-16 to set the final margin of victory.  On the night, the Pelicans held the Pistons to 39 percent shooting as a team (3-for-23 on three-pointers).  Detroit also missed 14 of 17 free throw attempts (17.6 percent), tying a franchise record for fewest free throws made by a Pelican opponent and setting a new record for the worst free throw shooting performance by a team in NBA history.

Pistons Head Coach Stan Van Gundy was unhappy to say the least. “It’s incredibly disheartening when you make a good offensive play and you draw the foul and it amounts to zero. It’s the same thing as a turnover.  You just can’t shoot the ball like that.”

Meanwhile, the Pelicans finished the night shooting 50 percent, and converted 22 of 23 free throw attempts.

“I thought we played well as a team,” Gentry added. “I thought defensively we were really good.  I think that they decided they were going to double AD, and AD did a good job of getting the ball out and we had wide open shots that went in tonight.  When you do that, that’s when you get separation.”

Now the Pelicans will look for the effort they showed tonight to carry over when Cousins returns.

“We just have to keep playing the same,” said Solomon Hill.  “(Demarcus) is going to get his regardless – on a good night or a bad night he’ll be effective. We just have to keep moving the ball and stay the same, defensively be the same, and take care of the ball a little better.”

“A lot of guys stepped up and made shots,” Davis said.  “We gotta carry it over to Friday’s game (against San Antonio) when (Demarcus) is back. Of course, it’ll be different, but we just gotta find a way to do it with or without him. He brings a different look to our team but we just need everybody to play the same way they played tonight.”

Rockets rout Pelicans, spoil Cousins’ debut

New Orleans – The “Boogie and the Brow” show wasn’t quite ready for prime time.

When the New Orleans Pelicans made the trade for DeMarcus Cousins, it energized a lethargic fan base and gave hope to a franchise mired in irrelevancy save for the play of Anthony Davis.

Boogie’s arrival changed all of that.  During Mardi Gras, and with the Krewe of Muses rolling in the streets, the biggest event in New Orleans took place at the Smoothie King Center.

Cousins was surprised at his reaction to the incredible reception he received.

“I know there has been a lot of anticipation leading up to this from the fans and from the city, and from myself as well,” said Boogie.  “It honestly felt like a regular game for some reason, like I’ve been here before.  So it was really nothing new or different for me.”

Unfortunately, it was the Houston Rockets who stole the show.  Houston quieted a raucous sellout crowd and defeated the Pelicans 129-99.  Lou Williams, who was making his Rockets debut, led the way with 27 points.  Houston had six players in double figures.

Houston made 20 of 51 three-pointers, leading to a 42-point advantage from beyond the arc.  In two games this season, Houston is 44-for-112 (39.2 percent) from long distance against the Pels.

The Rockets also outshot the Pelicans, making nearly 50 percent of their field goal attempts and holding New Orleans under 42 percent for the night.

Anthony Davis had a game-high 29 points to pace the Pelicans and Cousins finished with 27 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots.

Though the outcome was disappointing, the Pelicans were careful not to put too much on tonight’s performance.

“These guys (Houston Rockets) are good offensively,” said Head Coach Alvin Gentry.  “This is our very first game doing it…we’ll get it figured out.  This is a very difficult team to play and they are probably, arguably the best offensive team in the league.  So, we just got some work to do but it’s not anything we didn’t anticipate.”

“We’re not worried about this game”, said Davis.  “It’s our first game, we’re still learning.  We’ve got to put in our offense, we gotta go over our defense.  We only had one day to go over it, so I mean, we’ll be fine.”

“Nobody expected us to win – well, at least I didn’t expect us to win the championship in our first game,” added Cousins.  “We see the potential, we see what we need to work on…get a good practice in tomorrow and just learn from these mistakes.”

There were plenty of mistakes.  The Pelicans turned the ball over 20 times, leading to 25 Rockets points.  Jrue Holiday had seven giveaways on his own.  Houston held a slight lead on second chance points, but destroyed New Orleans on the break, picking up 34 points in transition.

“I thought the turnovers early on changed the game,” Gentry added.  “We turned the ball over way too many times and gave up points.  This is not a team you can do that against.  We gave up 15 to 17 points in the first half, all by turnovers, and then the offensive rebounds also factored into it.”

New Orleans started the game with Cousins taking a feed from Holiday and making a 20-foot jumper, sending the crowd into a frenzy.  Boogie made three of his four attempts in the quarter.  But with the game tied at 14, the Rockets went on an 11-2 run to go up 26-16.  New Orleans turned up the offense late in the quarter and trailed 30-28 after the first.

The second quarter was all Houston.  With the Pelicans turning it over six times in the period, Houston could take advantage and find its shooters.  The Rockets made six threes, with former Pelicans Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon combining for 17 of the Rockets 36 points in the quarter.

With Cousins on the bench with three personal fouls, Davis was left to fend for himself, scoring 10 points in the frame.  It wasn’t enough as the Houston lead swelled from two to 16 at the break, 66-50.

Everything completely fell apart for New Orleans in the third quarter.  Houston continued to get open looks, shooting 55 percent and outscoring the Pels 34-17.  Davis and Cousins combined to go 4-10 on the other end, the rest of the team made just two of 12 shots, none from behind the three-point line.  At 100-67 heading into the fourth, the game was decided.

Unfortunately, late in the third quarter, the Pelicans’ other new addition Omri Casspi was injured as Eric Gordon drove to the basket.  Casspi, who scored 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting (2-4 on threes), broke his right thumb.  One of the few shooters on the roster is now expected to miss 4-6 weeks with the injury.

“I stripped the ball from (Gordon) and I looked at my thumb and it just swole up really fast,” said Casspi. “But I kept playing and we just figured let’s do an X-Ray to make sure that nothing is there, but it is what it is.”

“It’s tough,” added A.D. “He can shoot the ball.  He shot the ball pretty well tonight and he’s going to be out.  He just got here, so it’s tough.  We’re just going to have to hold it down until he gets back.”

Win or lose, the story of the night was Cousins.  How the Pelicans bring him into the fold will determine the future of this franchise.  As bad as the start was, it’s just the start.  There are 24 games left to see if New Orleans can make a playoff push.

“It flowed well in the beginning,” Cousins concluded. “Coach even said it before the game, there’s gonna be times when we look great offensively, and there’s gonna be times when it looks like complete s—, which it did.  It happened tonight.  It’s just gonna be a matter of time.  It’s not gonna happen overnight.  We gotta lot of work to do.”

Davis sets All-Star scoring record, named MVP in front of home fans

NEW ORLEANS – The NBA All-Star Game stopped being even remotely competitive years ago.

Now it’s more of an opportunity for players to show off their athleticism in an environment void of defense.

The fans don’t care about that anyway.  The drama at the All-Star game now centers on what’s going on between the players, potential trades, and of course the selection of the game’s MVP.

As All-Star host, New Orleans Pelicans forward/center Anthony Davis had to be at least even money to take home the trophy.  Davis came into the game shooting nearly 90 percent from the floor (17-19) and averaging 17 points per contest, including 24 last season on a remarkable 12-13 shooting.

He cashed in on that bet by posting an All-Star record 52 points on a record 39 field goal attempts to claim the game’s top honor.  In doing so, he became the first player to earn the All-Star Game MVP award on his home floor since Kobe Bryant did the same back in 2011.  Davis threw in 10 rebounds for good measure to record a double-double.

“It was amazing,” said Davis.  “I stressed that, I think more than enough, to the guys in the locker room before the game that I wanted to get the MVP for this crowd, for this city, and I ended up doing it.  The guys did a great job of just finding me, giving me the basketball…They did a great job allowing me to do this.  I want to thank all of them.  This definitely means a lot to me.”

Davis’ Western Conference teammates certainly seemed eager to give Davis the opportunity.  Davis opened the scoring with a jump shot from the top of the key and kept it rolling throughout the first half.

He finished the first half with 22 points, taking 17 shots and making 11.  He also grabbed five rebounds as the West took a 97-92 lead into the break.  Davis’ good friend Russell Westbrook was right there with Davis, scoring 19 points to go along with five assists and four rebounds.

When Davis finished the third quarter with 32 points, he knew Wilt Chamberlains single-game scoring record of 42 was in reach.  However, Westbrook was right on his tail with 31.  Westbrook even briefly moved ahead of Davis during the fourth quarter.

But once Westbrook checked out of the game with 5:34 remaining, Davis had the stage all to himself.  He scored eight more points during that stretch to put the record and the MVP trophy in his hands.

“I think I had 32, and then the guys just told me to get 50,” Davis recalled.  “Then after that, I was just dunking the ball.  I wouldn’t say scoring, I was just dunking the ball.”

“I heard throughout the arena that I beat the record. To be in elite company with Wilt, definitely amazing.”

The duel between Davis and Westbrook was a friendly one.  Westbrook, MVP of the last two All-Star games, even gave AD a little advice before the game, though he refused to disclose details of the conversation.

“It was great, man,” said Westbrook, who finished with 41 points for the second time in his All-Star career, of watching his good friend win the MVP.  “It’s definitely always a great thing to do, especially here where he plays in front of his fans, his family.  It’s a great experience and definitely happy for him.”

Davis also singled out Golden State’s Draymond Green as another player who helped push him.

“(Draymond) said, all right, we got to get to at least 24 by halftime, and then we came out, and he said, we got to get at least 30 before you come out of the third.  So, we were just kind of breaking it down.  Then of course, all the other guys were adding on to it and trying to get me the ball.”

It was a fantastic end to a great weekend for Davis.  He, and his adopted city, played the role of host perfectly and all were rewarded for it.  On this night, Anthony Davis was the star among stars and it’s a feeling he won’t soon forget.

“This is definitely a prize, an award that I’m going to cherish forever.”

Buddy Hield hoping strong performance in Rising Stars Challenge leads to big finish this season

NEW ORLEANS – Buddy Hield has been loved in the city of New Orleans from the moment he was selected sixth overall in the 2016 NBA Draft.

The infectious smile, the relentlessly upbeat attitude; Hield is a fan favorite.  Every shot, make or miss, is greeted with tremendous anticipation.  Pelicans fans want and need Buddy Hield to be the scoring compliment to Anthony Davis.  They need him to be a star.

However, it has been an up and down season for “Buddy Buckets.”  So far, the rookie from Oklahoma has played in 57 games with 37 starts; shooting an unimpressive 39 percent from the floor, but an encouraging 37 percent from three-point range.  He was the NBA’s Rookie of the Month for December, averaging 10.6 points per game and making 33 three-pointers in 16 games.  In his last 10 games, though, Hield is shooting 42 percent and averaging eight points per game, and that was boosted by a 17-point performance against the Timberwolves.

But at Friday night’s BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, none of that mattered.  Buddy was relaxed, he was smiling, and most importantly, he was scoring.

Starting for the World team, Hield opened the scoring with a layup off a feed from Kristaps Porzingis.  He followed that up with a pair of three-pointers, putting up eight of his team’s first 11 points.  He would finish the first half with 19 points on 8-13 shooting (3-for-8 from beyond the arc).  Hield soaked up every moment, and the crowd was behind him.

“Oh, it was a lot of fun,” said Hield.  “It means a lot to play in New Orleans. I know the city is out here, everybody is embracing it, embracing the vibe, the atmosphere.  I just try to go out there and give the fans something good to watch.”

The shooting cooled a bit in the second half.  Buddy made just three of his nine attempts and went 0-for-4 on three point attempts. He finished with 27 points in roughly 27 minutes. Coincidentally, as Hield chilled, Jamal Murray turned into an inferno.  Murray, picked one spot behind Hield in the draft, scored 27 points in the second half and finished with a game-high 36, taking game MVP honors in the process.

Even in an all-star setting, Hield was a good teammate, choosing to celebrate Murray’s moment rather than lament the loss of his own.

“When the guy (Murray) is hot, you can’t stop him being hot,” he said.  “You can’t be selfish and say, ‘Okay, I want to show him up.’  He got hot, man.  This wasn’t my time. He deserved it.”

With his first All-star event behind him, Hield now must prepare for the stretch run of the season.  The Pelicans still sit only 2.5 games out of the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference.  Certainly, the team is counting on him to step up and play a big role in the playoff push.  Hield hopes that his performance Friday is a launching pad.

“I feel like, when you get a lot of confidence and you start to shoot the ball well and you start having fun and feel comfortable out there, it will loosen you up for a little more,” he added.  “Just got to keep getting better and use it as a major boost to the second half and finish out and continue to shoot the ball well.”

No matter what though, Buddy Hield will keep firing.  And keep smiling.

 

Pelicans drop 9th in last 12 games, this time to OKC, 121-110

NEW ORLEANS – It was a game of runs, and eventually the Oklahoma City Thunder ran away from the New Orleans Pelicans, defeating them 121-110 at the Smoothie King Center.

The Pelicans have lost nine of their last 12 and haven’t won consecutive games since their four-game win streak from Nov. 18 – Nov. 23.

In a matchup of the NBA’s top two scorers, the Thunder’s Russell Westbrook outdueled Anthony Davis, posting 42 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists.  Davis did his best to keep pace with 34 points and 15 boards.

Westbrook got plenty of help as well.  Four other OKC players reached double figures, led by reserve sharpshooter Alex Abrines’ 18.  Enes Kanter came off the bench as well, adding 14 points and 14 rebounds.

The Thunder outshot the Pelicans 51 percent to 48 percent and held a 49-34 advantage on the boards.

Ultimately, the game was decided in the fourth quarter over two brief stretches.  Entering the final 12 minutes, New Orleans trailed 84-87.  With the starters on the bench, the Pelicans had a total of 11 points on the floor.

Perhaps Head Coach Alvin Gentry thought his bench could keep his team close with OKC resting its front-line players as well.  That presumption proved to be wrong.

After a Tyreke Evans three-pointer at the 11:10 mark, the Thunder would go on a 16-2 run.  Alex Abrines would be responsible for 12 of those points, knocking down a trio of three pointers and converting an “and one.”  With just over eight minutes to play the deficit had ballooned to 16.

“Alex (Abrines) came in and I thought he made shots,” said Gentry.  “We had to then go down and double the post and on the double team I thought they did a good job of getting the ball out.  He knocked some shots down, knocked some threes down, and that’s kind of what got them some separation.”

The Pelicans would whittle the lead down to eight on a couple of occasions, but Russell Westbrook refused to allow New Orleans to get any closer.  Westbrook scored 11 of the Thunder’s final 13 points to put the game away.

“We knew at some stage (Russell) Westbrook was going to do his thing,” Gentry added.  “We could have survived the 42 points.  I think when Kanter comes in and scores 14, Alex gets 18, and the other kid (Joffrey Lauvergne) gets 10, that’s where I thought we got hurt.”

The Thunder front court made Anthony Davis work on both ends of the floor.  The trio of Kanter, Lauvergne, and Steven Adams combined for 36 points (17-for-29 shooting), 20 rebounds, three blocks and two steals.  Davis was 14-for-26 from the floor, but only attempted seven free throws.  He also got into foul trouble, finishing the night with five personals.

“I think you’ve gotta make him play defense,” said Thunder coach Billy Donovan of Davis, “where he’s just not resting on defense and going back and playing offense.  We just tried really to extend catches and make it a little more difficult for him to catch the ball, and use our length and our size.  He’s a hard cover.  In reality all you try to do is make him take the most difficult shot you can make him take, and you gotta hope for the best.”

Davis was more concerned with the Pelicans’ level of defensive effort than the production of those individual players.  “They just caught the ball deep,” said AD.  “It doesn’t matter who it is.  It can be a guy who doesn’t have any post moves, if they catch it one foot off the block then it’s easy to score.”

Defense has been a common theme for the Pelicans all season long.  While the team has improved from last season, New Orleans still ranks 19th in the league in defensive efficiency.  The Pelicans are allowing 110 points per game in their losses.  They’re also -4.2 in rebound differential.

“It’s tough when you play great defense for 22 seconds and then they get an offensive rebound, and that usually comes down to a three, a layup, or a dunk,” added Davis.

Gentry agreed. “We just couldn’t get them stopped at all.  The offensive rebounding hurt us, I thought.  Then their inside play I thought hurt us.”

The Pelicans have four games remaining in this current home stand.  The team looks at this as the defining stretch, a last opportunity to build momentum on the climb back towards respectability.  They’ll need a Sherpa to make that climb at this point.

They are as “healthy” as they’ve been under Alvin Gentry but that health doesn’t come in the form of enough quality talent.

Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca are almost non-factors on a night to night basis.  In 13 combined minutes last night, the duo combined for 0 points and two rebounds.  This while Cheick Diallo, who has shown flashes of his upside sits the bench night after night.

The Pelicans’ backcourt seems out of sorts as well.  With the return of Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans, E’Twaun Moore, Langston Galloway, and Buddy Hield are left to fight for playing time that seems insufficient for any of them to get into an offensive rhythm.

Currently, the Pelicans are comprised of an elite talent surrounded by question marks.  And from the looks of things, answers aren’t forthcoming anytime soon.

Pelicans top Lakers 110-102 behind Ajinca’s 28 points and 15 boards

NEW ORLEANS – Friday night at the Smoothie King Center, the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 110 to 102, but the score was largely irrelevant.  Both teams gave up their playoff dreams long ago; the Pelicans’ season marred by injuries and the Lakers setting a franchise record for losses for the second straight season.

What was relevant, judging by the amount of purple and gold jerseys in the stands, was Kobe Bryant’s final visit to the Crescent City.  Bryant, who wears No. 24 for the Lakers, played in New Orleans for the 24th time.

Bryant was greeted by a standing ovation as he took the court and again as he hit his first shot, a three-pointer, to give the Lakers an early 3-2 lead.

Every dribble, every fake, every make and every miss (Bryant went just 4-for-15 from the floor) was greeted in a similar fashion.

Kobe didn’t disappoint early as he played the entire first quarter, scoring all 14 of his points and helping Los Angeles take a 27-24 lead after one quarter, but he would play just 10 more minutes the rest of the way.

With Bryant on the bench for the second quarter, New Orleans came alive.  The Pelicans got 26 points from the trio of Luke Babbitt, Jordan Hamilton and Alexis Ajinca and outscored L.A. 33-19 to head into the locker room up 57-46.

Ajinca would finish with career-highs in both points (28) and rebounds (15) in 37 minutes of action.

“He’s a good perimeter shooter,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said of Ajinca.  “We didn’t think that their big guys would come out to play him…He needs to play with that kind of aggressiveness all the time.”

New Orleans continued its hot shooting in the third quarter, scoring at least 30 points for the second consecutive quarter.  Toney Douglas led the way with 13 points in the period, going 4-for-7 from the field and grabbing four rebounds.

D’Angelo Russell (game-high 32 points) and Jordan Clarkson (26 points) tried to rally the Lakers in the fourth as they cut a 20-point deficit to single digits late, but the game had been decided.  All that was left was for Bryant to take his final bow.  The crowd chanted “Kobe, Kobe, Kobe”, while the 18-time All-Star sat at the end of the bench.  Eventually, coach Byron Scott waved for Bryant to re-enter the game.  He missed a pair of shots before walking off the court in New Orleans for the final time.

After the game, Bryant said this was the first occasion in his career where he had checked back into a game based on the wishes of the crowd.

“There’s three games left,” said Bryant. “What am I saving it for?  The body is stiff, I’m completely locked up, but it’s the right thing to do at this point.”

The Pelicans were locked in defensively for most of the night, limiting the Lakers to just 35.5 percent shooting through three quarters and 42 percent for the game.  That effort on that end of the floor translated to easy offensive opportunities.  New Orleans shot better than 53 percent for the game.

The team had five players reach double figures.  Toney Douglas finished with 20 points, Dante Cunningham added 19 and reserves Luke Babbitt (15) and Jordan Hamilton (12) combined for 27 off the bench.  Eight different Pelicans had at least one assist.

“I think when you play and you get stops then you have the ability to get some easy baskets,” Gentry added.

Gentry was also happy about his team’s willingness to move the basketball.  The Pelicans finished with 29 assists, 12 alone from reserve guard Tim Frazier.

“When you share the ball like that, your shooting percentage tends to go up.  So, we just gotta understand that, looking to the future, that that’s going to be very important.”

The Pelicans may be building something for the future. Even as most of the team’s starters and key reserves tend to their various injuries, the Pels have continued to play hard for Gentry and the style of play that he was hired to implement seems to be gaining traction no matter how many players he loses.

New Orleans (30-49) will host the Phoenix Suns Saturday night and Chicago on Monday night to complete their final home stand of the season before closing out the year at Minnesota.

Kobe gets hot late, Pelicans falter and lose to Lakers 99-96

NEW ORLEANS – At times it was hard to tell if tonight’s game was being played in the Smoothie King Center or the Staples Center.

In the end it was the visiting Los Angeles Lakers who walked off the floor with a 99-96 victory, handing the New Orleans Pelicans their third straight defeat.

Kobe Bryant scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, including a three-pointer with 58 seconds remaining and free throw in the final seconds to help stave off a late New Orleans rally.

Bryant would finish the game with 27 points and a season-high 12 rebounds.

The Pelicans were once again unable to put together four quarters of solid basketball.  They fell behind by 12 points in the first quarter as Bryant scored 11 of the Lakers first 24.

The Pelicans started the game making one of their first nine field goal attempts with the Lakers cruised to a 13-2 start.

But once Bryant went to the bench at the 3:50 mark New Orleans rallied, outscoring L.A. 16-2 to take a 28-26 lead at the end of the first.

Rookie Bryce Dejean-Jones, who continues to impress with his aggressiveness on offense, had seven points during that stretch.

The second quarter belonged to the Lakers.  Second-year guard Jordan Clarkson led the charge, going 4-for-4 from the floor for 10 points.  Reserves Nick Young and D’Angelo Russell combined for 15 points as Los Angeles outscored the Pelicans 33-20.

Only the hot shooting of Ryan Anderson, who scored 10 points in the period, kept the Pelicans within striking distance.  His teammates failed to capitalize on their free throw opportunities throughout the first half, going just 7-for-16 at the line.

“When we miss free throws”, said Anthony Davis who finished the night 7-of-12 at the stripe, “we give them a chance to stay in the game and then they start getting confidence and feel like they can win.”

The Lakers maintained their lead in the third quarter even as Davis got going.  The Pelicans superstar made an assortment of shots on his way to posting 17 of his game-high 39 points in the quarter.

The rest of his teammates could only muster four points in the quarter and the Lakers held on to a ten-point advantage heading into the fourth.

New Orleans entered the game 2-26 when trailing after three quarters and they were unable to improve upon that mark tonight.

Julius Randle would put the Lakers up 12, 85-73 with 8:31 remaining in the game.  After a 6-0 Pelicans run cut the deficit to six, Bryant reentered the ballgame with 6:30 to go.

The crowd rose to its feet hoping for one more magical moment, not for the home team, but for Bryant.  After a pair of missed free throws by Davis, Bryant buried back-to-back three pointers to push the lead back to 12.

Then Kobe would steal an errant Jrue Holiday pass starting a fast break.  Dante Cunningham would run down Julius Randle, blocking his shot from behind, but Bryant was there to clean up the play and score a lay-up.

A 11-4 run by the Pelicans, capped by a Ryan Anderson dunk right over Bryant and a Davis dunk off of a Dejean-Jones steal would momentarily get the Smoothie King Center back on the home team’s side.  New Orleans was within three, trailing 92-95 with just under a minute to play.

But as he had all night, and as he has done so often in his remarkable career, Bryant had the final answer.   He calmly knocked down a three pointer, holding his shooting form for good measure and walking back to his bench wagging his index finger.

Alvin Gentry was extremely disappointed in his team’s effort.  “It frustrates me because we don’t have any margin for error.  It’s a home game and we lose for all the wrong reasons.  We can’t play uphill against any team, especially a team that has Kobe Bryant.”

Two late Pelicans baskets weren’t enough as New Orleans has now lost both meetings this season to a Lakers team that entered the game with just 10 victories all season.

New Orleans also fell to 0-23 when they score fewer than 100 points.

“We’ve been playing well the last couple of weeks”, added Davis.  “Now we’ve been taking steps backward and we can’t allow ourselves to do that if we wanna be able to achieve our goals.”

The Pelicans got little production from anyone other than Davis, Holiday, Dejean-Jones and Anderson.  That quartet finished with 92 of the team’s 96 points.  The other six players in the rotation combined to shoot 1-for-17 from the floor.

New Orleans was bad from behind both lines, going 4-for-20 on three point attempts and 14-for-26 at the free throw line.

It’s a good thing there weren’t any Pelicans players on Mardi Gras floats tonight.  Cries of “throw me something mister” would probably result on beads scattered in powerlines or trees; based on the team’s accuracy from the field over the last two games.

Breaking the losing streak will be a tall order with the Pels heading to Cleveland to face LeBron James and the Cavaliers on Saturday.