Pelicans vs. Kings Recap: The good, the bad and the Ball

JJ Redick’s game-winning layup with 1.1 seconds left in the fourth gave the Pelicans a 117-115 win over Sacramento on Saturday.

JJ Redick’s game-winning layup with 1.1 seconds left in the fourth gave the Pelicans a 117-115 win over Sacramento on Saturday.

The Good: The bounceback

After a tough loss to the Lakers on Friday, the Pelicans had a strong performance on the road in the second night of a back-to-back. Considering the level of effort New Orleans had to exert in the Laker game, one could hardly fault the Pelicans for a lackadaisical effort in Sacramento. But New Orleans started strong and finished strong.

For a team that is certainly starting to talk about the playoffs, a performance like this is pertinent. Sacramento is a team that a playoff team should be beating, home or away. While it got interesting down the stretch, grinding out a win is big for this team moving forward.

Honorable Mention: Baby Lakers performance, Derrick Favors’ rebounding, JJ Redick’s winner

The Bad: The final minutes

The Achilles heel of this Pelicans team has been clutch situations. After putting together a run that made it look like the game wouldn’t be in doubt, the Pelicans conceded a run to make it a game again. Favors’ big rebound on a JJ Redick miss on an open layup bailed out the Pelicans before Jrue Holiday looked to have iced the game.

But then Nemanja Bjelica banked in a three-pointer with a foul for a game-tying four-point play on Brandon Ingram’s sixth foul. While playoff teams get wins on the road like this, they don’t make the mistakes this team routinely does down the stretch.

Honorable mentions: The second quarter

The Ball: Strong run continues

Lonzo Ball continued his run of 20-point games with his third straight, furthering his career-best run of eclipsing 20 points. On Saturday, it was a strong fourth quarter from Ball to help him get over 20 points as he scored 15 of his 24 points in the period.

While he wasn’t as efficient as he’s been in recent weeks, he knocked down some huge shots in the fourth quarter, namely in the form of long-range efforts. The other parts of his games were as strong as ever as he also had nine assists and six rebounds.