Gentry rips Pelicans' lack of effort after loss to shorthanded Mavs

The Mavericks rested Dirk Nowitzki, Deron Williams and two other starters on Wednesday, thanks to all of them playing more than 40 minutes each during a double-overtime victory over Sacramento the night before.

But the reserves were more than capable against a Pelicans team that took their opponent too lightly, and after what was an especially bad loss for New Orleans in a season full of them, head coach Alvin Gentry lit his team up. 

”It’s not fair to the fans,” Gentry said, via John Reid of Nola.com. ”It’s not fair to anybody for us to come out and have that kind of effort. I’m really disappointed in the way we approached the game. We tried time and time again to say it doesn’t matter who is playing and who is not playing.”

What was so frustrating was the fact that the Pelicans had just beaten a Mavericks team that was at full strength back on Jan. 2.

New Orleans can't afford to give away games that they should be winning if there's any hope of salvaging the season. While it's true the team is just 11-23 and near the bottom of the standings in the West, the reality is they're still only four games back of the final playoff spot, even after Wednesday night's latest crushing loss.