With their season officially on the line on Sunday, the New Orleans Pelicans put forth a putrid first-half effort and a second-half rally would not be enough as they fell to the Spurs, 122-113.
JJ Redick scored a team-high 31 points off the bench while Zion Williamson added 25 points in 27 minutes. Jrue Holiday and Lonzo Ball, though, combined to shoot just 4-of-22 from the field and 0-of-9 from three-point territory.
The Good: The bench
For the second game in a row, the Pelicans’ bench saved the day in the second half. After Frank Jackson and Nicolo Melli pulled New Orleans back into the game on Friday against Washington, it was a lineup of Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Jackson, Jrue Holiday, Josh Hart and Jaxson Hayes that pulled the Pelicans back into the contest on Sunday.
The starters brought a pretty lifeless effort (more on that to come) to start the game and barely kept New Orleans in the game in the first half. On Sunday, unlike on Friday, they left it too late to get back into the game. Against a team like the Wizards, you can make a third-quarter run to win by double-digits. Against a team like the Spurs, even a stellar third quarter like the Pelicans had can’t overcome a 20-point deficit.
Honorable mentions: Redick, Williamson