New Orleans Pelicans need more despite DeMarcus Cousins’ production

The New Orleans Pelicans, lead by the heroics of DeMarcus Cousins, defeated the Chicago Bulls (96-90) in overtime over the weekend. After 10 games, the Pelicans are officially a .500 ball club for the season.

DeMarcus Cousins and the New Orleans Pelicans won a thrilling overtime game over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. This marks their first back-to-back series win of the season, and it definitely showed throughout the game.

The Pelicans are officially a .500 ball club and they clearly look like they are hitting their stride with easy matchups against the Dallas Mavericks and the Chicago Bulls.

It was clear at the start of the game that the New Orleans Pelicans were lackadaisical on the offensive side of the ball. Settling for jumpers, not cutting hard to the basket, lazy pin-downs and screens were the recipe that the Pelicans cooked up for the Bulls to build up their lead in the first half.

It was clearly inexcusable for the Pelicans to allow a rebuilding team like the Bulls get the jump on them for most of the game. Without the heroics of Jameer Nelson (13 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals) and DeMarcus Cousins, the Pelicans would have suffered the most embarrassing loss in this early season.

The overtime hero

DeMarcus Cousins (25 points, 11 rebounds and four assists) was horrendous in the first half of the game. He was 3-of-12 from the field, mostly settling for jumpers and 3-point shots, going 1-of-4 from downtown.

It’s honestly baffling why Cousins keeps playing the game like he’s Kevin Love. He’s way too skilled to be used to stretch out the defense (32.9 percent from 3-point range this year) and his missed jumpers gave the Bulls the opportunity for easy baskets. It was only in the fourth quarter and overtime where he turned up the volume, scoring 17 points by getting to the free throw line, where he went 10-for-11.

Cousins is in the top five in scoring, rebounding and blocks in the NBA, but it hasn’t translated into victories for New Orleans. The reason is the Pelicans have a top-five starting unit when it comes to scoring, but clearly boast one of the worst benches in the league. A lack of production from the bench and predictable offensive schemes for the starting unit is still holding this team back.

Adjustments

Most teams at this juncture already know how to defend the Pelicans’ starting unit. Most games, either Jrue Holiday or E’Twaun Moore would attack the basket, and if they can’t find a good shot, they would pass it to either Anthony Davis or DeMarcus Cousins. Either All-Star big men would just settle for the jumper or ram their way in the paint for a tough shot.

The Chicago Bulls were expecting that gameplan and made a run for the first three quarters of the game. Jameer Nelson and Darius Miller (11 points and a +16 on the court) stepped up huge in the second half, which allowed the Pelicans to close the game out in overtime.

This game must be a reminder to both DeMarcus Cousins and the rest of the New Orleans Pelicans that their effort and execution isn’t enough to take them seriously. The same could be also said for Anthony Davis (27 points, 16 rebounds and three blocks), who was a -2 on the floor.

Next: 2017-18 Week 4 NBA Power Rankings

Consistency is key for this ball club to be treated seriously in this league. Boasting the best frontcourt in the NBA doesn’t mean much if you struggle to beat one of the worst teams in overtime.