Pelicans Embarrass Themselves at Home in 100-96 Loss to Jazz

The Pelicans were up by 14 points with 6:40 left in the third quarter. By the time the quarter was over, they found themselves down by 4.

This stretch included 5 straight offensive possessions that resulted in 10 straight points for the Utah Jazz. Also as a result of this, New Orleans did not score a basket in the final 6:40 of the period.

Feb 9, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Eric Gordon (10) shoots against the Utah Jazz during the second quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

A fantastic first half from Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans went to waste. They accounted for 32 of the Pels 52 first half points, and also tallied 8 assists between them.

These two played great basketball for most of the game, but that one three minute stretch was enough to ruin the entire thing. Gordon finished with 31 points on 7-8 shooting from deep, while Evans only raised his total to 18.

The 11 turnovers these two committed ultimately outweighed the positives, and the team lost as a result.

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Elijah Millsap, brother of Hawks standout forward Paul Millsap, was a major reason for these troubles. His ferocious on ball defense on both Evans and Gordon forced a flurry of bad turnovers that led to easy buckets.

Alexis Ajinca and Jeff Withey both saw a bulk of minutes tonight in the absence of Davis and Anderson.

Asik helped them out a bit, but the Pels trio of bigs was no match for the trio of Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter and Rudy Gobert. The trio’s 10 offense rebounds, most of which came in the first half.

The amount of second chance points given up was both a testament to the size the Pelicans were missing and the hard work of these three bigs.

Favors and Gobert added to their contributions by tacking on a handful of blocks while protecting their lead in the fourth quarter. The size of the Jazz almost beat the Pels a few months back, but without Davis New Orleans simply could not get the job done.

Feb 9, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) lays in the ball over New Orleans Pelicans guard Tyreke Evans (1) during the first quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Jimmer Fredette did not see the floor at all tonight, and that is because of the impressive performance of Toney Douglas.

His tenacity and energy on the defensive end rivals that of Dante Cunningham. Plus, it does not hurt that he can knock down some triples.

He is on his first 10 day contract, but look for him to try to earn his second with another solid performance on Wednesday.

Luke Babbitt was the Pelicans leading bench scorer, scoring 15 points on 6-14 shooting.

He was tasked with guarding the much bigger Enes Kanter due to Ajinca’s foul trouble, but he did his best to at least contribute on the offensive end.

It was good to see Luke, who had been riding the bench a lot as of late, to play with a high level of confidence.

Gordon Hayward led the way for the Jazz with 32. He started off cold but took advantage of all of the Pelicans mistakes to get himself and his teammates going.

He had been shut down before that stretch, and he almost single handedly turned the game around as a result.

Hayward is a fantastic shooter, and getting a guy like him going on wide open looks cannot happen.

Steve Novak can do 3 things on a basketball court: move, breath and hit threes. Apparently, the Pelicans were not aware of this and Novak got way too many open looks.

His 4 three point buckets were ultimately the deciding factor of the game, and it is absolutely repulsive how wide open he was while on the floor.

Even Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday and Ryan Anderson out, this was a game New Orleans needed to win.

It is unacceptable for a team not only lose to a bad team, but to do so at home.

They did not get blown out, but this was worse.

They gave a “must win” game away, and they better win on Wednesday against another bad team in Indiana, if they want to remain in the playoff hunt.

Any further embarrassment like the one experienced tonight, will all but seal the Pelicans’ fate — and we still haven’t gotten out of February…….

Next: NBA Trade Deadline 2015: Will the Pelicans Make a Move?