The New Orleans Pelicans had a close loss to the Golden State Warriors on Friday Night. What adjustments should they make for their next game against the Lakers?
The New Orleans Pelicans had the defending world champions on the ropes for most of the game. The first quarter gave the indication that the Golden State Warriors had no answer for the 39 points being dropped on them. But as usual, they rallied back and won the game 128-120. The Pelicans had a near-perfect game plan to upset the Warriors, but some costly mistakes were made down the stretch.
The New Orleans Pelicans certainly learned their lesson with their season opener loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. There was plenty of ball movement and shot distribution, a stark contrast from the Grizzlies game. Not just for the starting unit, but also for the bench. But the reason why the Pelicans lost to the Warriors can be simplified into three easy categories. These categories are what the Pelicans will need to address as they face their next opponent, the Los Angeles Lakers.
Free Throws
The New Orleans Pelicans would have won the game down the stretch, if they made their free-throws. The Pelicans made 14 of their 22 free-throw attempts, but missed a few of them in the critical moments of the fourth quarter. The fact that the Warriors only won the game by 8 points gives you the idea that this game was in the bag for the Pelicans. If they made all their free-throws, this game would have gone to overtime or the Pelicans could have put it away in the last minute of the fourth quarter.
Pelican Debrief
Defense
The New Orleans Pelicans were red-hot to start the game and dropped 39 points in the first quarter. The next two quarters, they were outscored by 72 points by the Warriors. The reason why that happened was because of silly turnovers that kick-started that comeback run. The Warriors scored 25 points off of 18 turnovers, which resulted in open 3-pointers by Klay Thompson.
The Pelicans made some huge mental errors of not switching onto Thompson when he was trying to get free for an open shot. He literally burned them all night long making 7 of his 12 3-point shots. The Pelicans will need to make sure that if a jump shooter is getting streaky, they need to force him out of his comfort zone. Make him put the ball on the floor and force him to score in the paint.
Consistency
The Pelicans will need to be consistent in all 48 minutes of the basketball game. The 39 points they dropped on the Warriors in the first quarter couldn’t be sustained because of the fast pace of the game. The Pelicans looked exhausted down the stretch and the Warriors took advantage of that. Both DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis each scored 35 points but settled for jumpers in the second half of the game. They couldn’t keep up the offensive pressure in the paint for the entire game.
This must be addressed for the next game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The New Orleans Pelicans have developed the perfect gameplan in their loss to the Golden State Warriors. Dishing out 28 assists with the bench scoring 31 points is a winning recipe. And having your two All-Stars draining 35 points each should have sealed the game against the Warriors. It shouldn’t be much of an issue with the Lakers. They aren’t known for their defense and allowed the Phoenix Suns to drop 130 points in their Friday night clash.
Next: 30 reasons to be excited for the 2017-18 NBA season
This third game of the season for the New Orleans Pelicans is a must win against these young Lakers. It’d be embarrassing to not secure your first win of the 2017 season against a team in rebuilding mode. If they don’t win, maybe LaVar Ball will proclaim that the Lakers have a better record than the Pelicans.