Despite their best effort, the New Orleans Pelicans extended their losing streak to five games with a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on the road on Sunday. Here was the good, the bad and the Ball from their 107-104 loss to OKC.
The Good: 3-point shooting
The Pelicans continued their hot streak from behind the arc on Sunday, shooting 44.7% from behind the arc on 38 attempts. Lonzo Ball made a team-high four 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Jrue Holiday, JJ Redick and Josh Hart made three each.
Without their 3-point shooting, the game wouldn’t have been as close as it was — especially with how easily Steven Adams was scoring against New Orleans’ depleted front court. Adams scored 17 points on 85.7% from the field. As a team, the Thunder scored 44 points in the paint to the Pelicans’ 34.
The Bad: Late-game execution
The Pelicans were in a great position to take the game to overtime, but a pair of mental lapses from Jrue Holiday and rookie Jaxson Hayes cost them the game. Holiday took his time to find a shot and while his basket went it, it left New Orleans with less than two seconds. Then, Hayes overplayed a ball that was going out of bounds.
Things like that are going to happen often for a young team. Unfortunately for the Pelicans, it happened at a crucial moment of the game.
The Ball
Lonzo Ball looked great in his first game back from a two-game absence. In 32:47, Ball scored 14 points on 5-11 shooting from the field, including 4-8 from behind the arc, to go along with seven assists, four rebounds and one block.
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