After falling behind by as many as 20 points in the first half on Friday, the New Orleans Pelicans battled back and led late in Golden State before faltering down the stretch yet again to fall to the Warriors, 106-102.

The Good: Former Lakers

In a game with former Lakers littered throughout, most of them excelled on the night. Brandon Ingram was the best of the group, scoring 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting with a handful of big buckets in the fourth. Lonzo Ball had one of his best defensive games of the season and chipped in 14 points off the bench.

On the other side, D’Angelo Russell struggled at times but hit huge shot after huge shot down the stretch, leading the Warriors comeback and finishing with 25 points.

Honorable mentions: Jrue Holiday

The Bad: Late-game execution….again

Again, the Pelicans just crumbled down the stretch on Friday. First, it was fouling Damion Lee off the ball with under a minute to go, leading to two free throws and a two-point Warriors lead. Then, it was allowing eight seconds to run off the clock before fouling after Jrue Holiday’s missed jumper with 26 seconds left.

It’s beating the same drum all season but this team continues to make mind-numbing mistakes over and over again.

Honorable mentions: Josh Hart and Kenrich Williams’ three-point shooting

The Ball: Defense sparks offense

Ball had one of his best defensive games of the season, tying his season-high in steals with five. He picked up guys full-court and got into the game on that end of the floor which sparked his defense. In the end, he finished with 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and the five steals while hitting two of his four three-point attempts.

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