Well, that was a bit too close for me. Thankfully, the Pelicans did end up winning 102 to 98 after struggling most of the first half. The Bucks were able to stick around most of the game due in large part to Anthony Davis getting into foul trouble early. Brian Roberts also struggled early in the game, starting off 1 for 7 from the field. However, he and Alexis Ajinca were a big part of the Pelicans dominant third quarter performance, which ultimately let them take control of the game. At any rate, I don’t want to relive this game too much, so here are a few of my notes from the game
Nick’s Notes
- If I had known Tyreke and Davis would only play a combined 45 minutes, my game preview would have probably been a bit different. I was actually fine with how Monty handled Davis and his foul trouble, but I still can’t explain Tyreke’s minutes.
- The Pelicans only took 13 three pointers tonight, but we made 6. Not a great night, but I was happy to see Babbitt go 2 for 5. I’m not saying he is a great player, but he has played aggressive and spirited basketball. Something tells me he’d like to stay in the NBA.
- I still don’t understand how Withey and Miller aren’t getting more minutes.
- Ajinca had a really nice game. He went 7 for 7 from the field and was a rebound shy of a double-double in only 22 minutes of play. Those types of games can help a guy stay in the NBA. Ever notice how many players on our roster are borderline NBA players?
- With a win tonight the Pelicans are 23 – 29. That is by no means a great record, but considering our awful luck with injuries, I can live with it. Also, remember that predictions for our season were all over the board. I read a couple of articles and blog posts that had us winning 27 – 36 games. Even with the injuries, we should easily beat that.
- Pierre the Pelican’s beak operation went horribly wrong, and he came out looking completely different. Honestly, I liked having a silly horrifying mascot, but I guess he is better this way.
All right guys, get ready for the All Star game festivities. Enjoy all the fun and know how bitter I am that I can’t be there with you. See you after the break!
5 responses to “Pelicans pull away in the Third Quarter to Beat Bucks”
Ugly win. For the love of Pierre play withey and miller!!!!
It was nice to see Ajinca recover from a horrible stretch early in the game (turnovers and more turnovers) to post a fine overall performance. If he can learn to control his body to avoid foul trouble he will go from borderline to solid in a big hurry. For now, I would instruct him not to hedge and not to set screens on the perimeter. Let someone else do that dirty work until he learns how.
Aminu also picked it up late. His ball handling is the most inconsistent I have ever seen. One play he loses the ball unforced, the next he drives to the basket almost like a professional basketball wing player.
Gordon had a good game. I think he is a great scorer versus poor defenses. I don’t see him helping a team much in the palyoffs, however. Unless his 3-point stroke is on and he makes the effort to get free on the arc, he won’t get many points.
Davis was obviously not focused, He had several silly fouls that he normally doesn’t. If he was going to take half a game off then this was the night to do it.
Withey! I think he would have limited the easy drives to the basket that kept Milwaukee in the game. Stiemsma is rooted to the ground and Ajinca can’t move side to side without getting whistled. With Davis on All-Star Break we needed Withey to protect the rim. Other than one good game, Miller hasn’t shown me much and his stats bear that out.
Can some stat freak figure out whether we really miss the highest percentage of layups in the league? It sure seems like it.
I think it is hard to call for Miller and Withey minutes when Babbitt and Ajinca are playing so well. Also, for all of the Stiemsma complaints he had two stellar defensive plays in the last 20 seconds and 6 rebound in 20minutes of play.
NOEngineer http://stats.nba.com/leagueTeamShots.html?pageNo=1&rowsPerPage=30&DistanceRange=By%20Zone&sortField=FG_PCTZone1&sortOrder=DES
Shows our team is 26th/30th in FG% in the restricted area (57%).
A win is a win…..the effort wasn’t good early, but a sense of urgency kicked once they realized the Bucks were not going lay down….