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Player Grades: New Orleans Pelicans fall to Spurs on Tim Duncan jersey retirement night
The New Orleans Pelicans (now 9-20) predictably struggled against a superior San Antonio Spurs team on Sunday night, falling 113-100.
Much in the same way that the Houston Rockets loss on Friday night was a “schedule loss” with the Pelicans playing a rested Rockets team in their arena after traveling the night before from New Orleans, Sunday’s game against San Antonio posed the same disadvantages. Though more sentimental, the retirement ceremony for Tim Duncan’s number 21 jersey meant there was probably no way the Spurs were going to lose. There’s a reason the Spurs’ marketing team chose the Pelicans game– you know that, right?
The grades for every player from what was still a valiant effort:
Jrue Holiday
PG, New Orleans Pelicans
DJrue Holiday was not good enough tonight; it’s that simple. Being the Pelicans second-best player, he needs to be able to contribute on a nightly basis. A 2-8, 5-point performance will not cut it for a team that is desperate for competent guard play. The stats were bad, but aside from that, Holiday struggled with pressure from the Spurs wing defenders. Holiday was unable to get by his man, forcing the Pelicans into shots late in the clock. Holiday’s performance against the Spurs starts to beg the question of whether or not he is good enough to be the second option against elite teams? So far this season, the answer has been no. Now, his individual defense is still very good. With 17 seconds remaining in the second half, Holiday completely shut down Kawhi Leonard, forcing him into a contested three.
Buddy Hield
G, New Orleans Pelicans
B+Buddy Hield was quite good against the Spurs. Hield spaced the floor and let the offense come to him, and showed a decisiveness that was not there to start the year. Buddy seems to have finally settled into the NBA game, and that was evident against the Spurs, as he showed off his entire repertoire of shot-making, from ball-fake pull-ups to drives to the basket. Hield looks like a completely different player than the guy we saw at the beginning of the season. That’s a very good sign for the Pelicans moving forward. Hield finished 2-4 from three tonight to continue his hot shooting, and his final line of 6-11 for 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists is not too shabby either. Defensively, he was exposed a bit by the Spurs; Hield was caught ball-watching a couple of times, but that’s ok. Most rookies struggle defensively, but it’s refreshing to see Hield be the floor spacer he was advertised to be.
E'Twaun Moore
G/F, New Orleans Pelicans
FE’Twaun Moore is struggling to fit into what the Pelicans want to do offensively. His 2-5 shooting night is both disappointing and worrisome long-term. Against San Antonio, he scored all his points in the 2nd quarter, hitting a reverse layup and a left wing three. After that 2nd quarter though, Moore faded into obscurity, failing to make any sort of impact on the floor. San Antonio was willing to let Moore try and create for himself all game long, and the results were a lot of ugly possessions where Moore tried to get past his man to no avail. Moore is still a fine player, but it’s unclear what his role is for this Pelicans team.
Anthony Davis
PF/C , New Orleans Pelicans
D+It’s easy to forget that Anthony Davis is human. Tonight was one of those games where you’re reminded. He started off the game strong, collecting 10 points in the first period. Now who would’ve then guessed that Davis would score a mere 2 points the remainder of the game? Anyone who said yes is lying. Davis finished with a measly 12 points on only 12 shots, a result of the guards struggling to make entry passes and the Spurs doing an excellent job of forcing him into spots that he wasn’t comfortable. Davis also struggled to match the physicality that the Spurs frontcourt displayed. Doubles came quick and often from the Spurs, and Davis was a step slow in reacting to them, leading to a final line of 12 points, 4 rebounds, 3 turnovers, and only one assist. Davis had his worst all-around performance of the year, so it’s no surprise that the Pelicans found themselves down big.
Alexis Ajinca
C, New Orleans Pelicans
B-Alexis Ajinca finished as the Pelicans leading scorer tonight (16 points). This would make you think he played an excellent game and deserves high praise– Nnot exactly. Admittedly, Ajinca had a number of finishes where he left his defenders glued to floor. He was good as a roll man and as a low-post threat, showcasing the peak of his offensive ability against the Spurs by scoring those 16 points on 8-12 shooting. Ajinca was brilliant on the offensive end, and without him, the Pelicans probably get embarrassed. The issue with Ajinca is always the other end of the court; tonight, San Antonio was well aware of his defensive libations and attacked him. The Spurs took Ajinca away from the rim, where he was too slow on defensive rotations to recover against the Spurs constantly-moving offense.
Tim Frazier
PG, New Orleans Pelicans
C+Tim Frazier played 21 minutes against the Spurs, putting to rest any rumors that his minutes will decrease. Interestingly enough, Frazier played next to Tyreke Evans quite a bit, as the two took turns running the second unit. The results weren’t bad offensively, and a big reason that the pairing was able to work is Frazier’s ability to space the floor. Not really known as a 3-point shooter, Frazier knocked down three triples against the Spurs. His sudden ability to space the floor (38 percent on the year) makes the pairing much more intriguing than initially thought.
Langston Galloway
G , New Orleans Pelicans
DLangston Galloway continued to struggle against San Antonio, finishing 4-10 overall and only 2-6 from behind the arc. At this point, it’s very difficult to know for certain what you’re going to get out of a guy like Langston Galloway, and Pelicans fans should be weary: Just as Buddy Hield is experiencing a regression to the mean with his shooting, Galloway could see it as well, in the opposite direction.
Tyreke Evans
G/SF, New Orleans Pelicans
CTyreke Evans landed right on his minute restriction of 15 minutes. In those 15 minutes, he flashed the skills that separate from the rest of the guards on the roster, pushing the ball after rebounds, finishing for himself or setting up a teammate for an easy look. Evans still shows rust in the halfcourt, but his ball-handling is head-and-shoulders above almost everyone else on the team. As Evans works his way back to 100 percent health, it will be interesting to see who falls out of the rotation.
Dante Cunningham
F/C , New Orleans Pelicans
C- Dante Cunningham returned from injury against San Antonio and provided 17 minutes, but clearly lacked a rhythm and struggled trying to re-acclimate himself to the team. Cunningham was able to get a lot of garbage time minutes late, so that’s a plus for his ability to get back into game shape. The Pelicans need him to return as the valuable floor spacer he was before the injury setback.
Terrence Jones
PF/C, New Orleans Pelicans
D+Terrence Jones was horrible on both ends against the Spurs. On defense, Jones would often help needlessly, allowing his man to roll to the rim and catch the ball for an easy layup, and it is not surprising that a good passing team was able to exploit his glaring weaknesses on the defensive end of the floor. Offensively, Jones had a tough time finishing over the Spurs’ bigs. Even when he used his first step well enough to get by his defender, his trips to the line were a struggle– he finished only 3-6 from the charity stripe. Jones has been up and down all season with his production, and the Spurs game was another example.
Cheick Diallo
PF/C, New Orleans Pelicans
INC Cheick Diallo was restricted only to garbage time minutes, but that’s fine for now. His defensive rotations were very poor, and the lack of experience defending at a high level is why he’s not playing. If you want to win, Diallo is not ready to help in that regard. However, we are very close to winning becoming less of a priority, and when the playoffs are out of reach, Diallo needs to see a major minutes uptick.
Reggie Williams
SF , New Orleans Pelicans
INC Reggie Williams missed his only shot attempt and did nothing else of note. I would be surprised if he’s on the Pelicans much longer once Cunningham and Evans are back at full health.
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