The New Orleans Pelicans gave it all they had, but it wasn’t enough to spoil Anthony Davis’ return as the Los Angeles Lakers beat them 114-110. Here was the good, the bad and the Ball from Wednesday’s exciting game.
The Good: The Pelicans’ 3-point shooting
It seemed like the Pelicans were making every shot they put up on Wednesday, particularly from behind the arc. Through four quarters, the Pelicans shot a ridiculous 42.5% from 3-point range. JJ Redick led the team with five made 3-pointers in eight attempts, followed by Jrue Holiday, who sunk four of his six attempts.
Unfortunately, Redick wasn’t able to sink the biggest shot of the night, coming up short on a long 2-point attempt in the final seconds of the game. Still, it was a great showing for New Orleans and one they’ll hope to build on once they’re at full strength.
That Anthony Davis character is pretty good, too.
The Bad: Turnovers
The Pelicans ended the night with 20 assists as a team, but turned the Ball over 19 times. That’s nearly a 1:1 assist to turnover ratio, which isn’t going to win you too many ballgames, even if the other team is struggling to take care of the ball, too. If the Pelicans are going to play upsetter this season, the turnovers need to be cut down.
The Ball
Lonzo Ball missed Wednesday night’s game with a stomach virus. He will be re-evaluated later this week.