New Orleans Pelicans Grades: Pelicans Finish Flat in Loss to Kings

The New Orleans Pelicans played well for one half of play, yet finished flat in a road loss to the Sacramento Kings Monday Night.

The New Orleans Pelicans looked really good against the Sacramento Kings….

For one solid half.

After only having six turnovers in the first half, the Pelicans took the second half to double that number. New Orlean turned the ball over 12 times in the second half alone. New Orleans could not stop the Kings from winning their third straight game, behind star player DeMarcus Cousins.

However, Anthony Davis did not back down from Cousins at all. Davis finished the first half with 21 points and four rebounds, as the Pelicans went into halftime with a 56-53 lead.

The game’s momentum took a turn, after Buddy Hield was called for a grade two flagrant foul. He would be ejected from the game. This was after hitting Cousins “Where the Sun does not Shine”, while fighting over a screen.

After Hield was thrown out of the game, the Kings went on a 14-6 run, to move them into striking distance at halftime.

In the second half, the dominance of Anthony Davis continued. However, the turnovers from New Orleans became the deciding factor in the game.

The Kings started the second half by making three straight three-pointers, giving them the lead. They did not look back afterwards.

Although Davis finished the game with an astonishing 32 points and 10 rebounds, the Pelicans had too many turnovers in the second half in order to win.

The team just had too many blunders in the second half. Not a lot of NBA teams will win a game, with more than half of their turnovers coming in the latter half.

The Pelicans were able to beat the Kings in some important categories that kept things close, such as having 14 points off turnovers to the Kings’ zero.

Still, it would not be enough for the win tonight.

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Jrue Holiday

PG,

BJrue Holiday had a complete game for the Pelicans. He was everywhere on the floor and on the stat sheet. Holiday finished the game with 16 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and five steals. The one downfall of Holiday’s game is that he finished second on the team in turnovers with four. Holiday found the open man and was able to get his buckets, even with his three-point shot not falling. He and Davis are such a good tandem. It would be great if that could translate to more wins for the Pels.

Buddy Hield

SG,

C-Buddy Hield had a short night, because of his flagrant foul on Cousins. This is probably one of those games the young rookie wants to forget about. Hield played just 14 minutes and put up five points and two assists. However, the Pelicans noticeably missed him, after he was ejected. The Kings looked like a different team, once he headed to the locker room. Hield was the only Pelican who finished the game with a positive plus-minus rating.

Solomon Hill

SF/PF,

BSolomon Hill had a good shooting night from the three point line, which is always something the Pelicans appreciate. He was 3-5 from three and finished the game with nine points. When Hill is on, it is very nice to see.

Dante Cunningham

PF/SF,

C+Dante Cunningham stepped up in the absence of Terrence Jones, who missed tonight’s game with a thumb injury. Cunningham and Hill both brought their three point game tonight. Cunningham had 14 points and six rebounds, while shooting 4-7 from the three-point line. A good night for him to step into the starting lineup and contribute on the offensive end, to help Anthony Davis out.

Anthony Davis

C/PF,

B+Anthony Davis continues to prove himself as one of the top rare talents in the NBA. Davis’ offensive touch was a thing of beauty tonight, against the Kings. He made jumpers, attacked the rim and drew contact. Davis never quits on a game. That’s the admirable part of his game. Anthony attacked every player on the Kings, no matter if it was DeMarcus Cousins or Willie Cauley-Stein. He went to work. The downside of his game tonight was he led the team in turnovers with six. Davis was held to only 11 points in the second half, after scoring 21 in the first 24 minutes. The Kings just had a complete team effort in the second half and A.D. could not repeat his first half performance.

Tyreke Evans

PG/SG/SF,

CTyreke Evans did not have a terrible game ,but he could have done more, considering the Pelicans were short-handed in the second half. At times. fans can forget he’s on the floor. However, he is still banged up, so hopefully he plays out the remaining stretch and continues to try to get back to 100 percent for the Pelicans. Evans just did not have a huge impact on the game, although he did score seven points in his 15 minutes of play.

Langston Galloway

SG,

CLangston Galloway’s shot looked a lot better. His three pointer was falling and he’s a better player when that shot is going in for him. Galloway made three triples, although they did not win the game. Let’s hope he can continue that rhythm in their second game of the back-to-back, against the Suns.

Tim Frazier

PG,

C-Tim Frazier did not contribute in tonight’s game. The Pelicans needed his gutsy-like play tonight and Frazier could not produce it for the team. He finished the game with zero points on two shot attempts in his 11 minutes.

Donatas Motiejunas

C/PF,

The New Orleans Pelicans will look to get back on track in the second game of a road back-to-back. They will travel to Phoenix tomorrow to face the Suns. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. CST.