New Orleans Pelicans: Injuries And Inconsistencies
By Owen Sanborn
Last week, I documented the offensive struggles that were taking place because of the return of Eric Gordon from a shoulder injury. In the piece, I acknowledged that now may actually be the perfect time to integrate Gordon back into the swing of things because an Eastern Conference road trip was coming.
Boy, was I wrong.
After going 5-5 in during a brutal 10-game stretch where they played primarily the elite teams of both the Eastern and Western Conference, the Pelicans have gone 3-4 in their last seven games with losses against the lowly Charlotte Hornets, Boston Celtics, PHILADELPHIA 76ers and the free falling NEW YORK KNICKS.
Much of the recent struggles can be attributed to Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday being sidelined due to injury. I’m willing to let that slide. However, two of the three wins have been on the road against Toronto and at home against a powerhouse Memphis squad. Sandwiching those wins in between losses to poor Eastern Conference foes simply does not make sense at this point.
The players seem to understand that their inconsistent play won’t cut it as Eric Gordon offered this quote post-game after the loss to the Knicks:
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“It’s always disappointing. We know what we’re capable of as a team. We didn’t have that many assists tonight, like 13 or so. The ball wasn’t moving as much as it should. We definitely wanted this game after what we did last night.”
It seems like whenever New Orleans play a sub par game, the postgame reaction always goes back to the lack of ball movement or continuity within the team. Playing smart basketball down the stretch has been a struggle for the Pelicans — as it should be with any young team — as the ball becomes sticky and the offense becomes stagnant.
Even with Davis healthy and on the floor late in games, the Pelicans go-to late game offense usually involves either Evans isolating at the top of the key (or Davis isolating near one of the elbows) with everyone else split to one side of the floor watching. Playing that way (some would recognize it as “hero ball”) has worked every now and then, but is not a way to consistently edge out crucial victories by a narrow margin.
New Orleans went 2-3 on this recent Eastern Conference swing, which is not good enough if they aspire to crash the postseason party. I envisioned a record of 4-1 at worst, with their only loss coming by way of Toronto (which of course is one of the games they won). I guess that’s why they choose to play the games.
The good news for the Pelicans is that Davis’ toe injury does not seem to be too serious (although they will wisely be cautious with him), as he listed as day-to-day. Holiday’s ankle injury may be a bit more dicey because of his injury history and his return may take longer.
Either way, New Orleans plays the Lakers on Wednesday night, a game that they absolutely need to win with or without Davis and Holiday. Some kind of consistency needs to be formed.
As coach Monty Williams said post-game on Monday:
“The plays we made last night, we just didn’t make them tonight.”
Seems like a season-long theme for the Pelicans, doesn’t it?