Anthony Davis is Injured in Blowout Loss to Mavericks

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Published: February 26, 2014

That was painful. I mean every part of the game was painful, but watching Anthony Davis walk off the court with a shoulder sprain was the worst. Frankly, the one thing I was looking forward to for the rest of this season was watching Davis and the other young guys develop. Of course, Davis may be back this season, but when he isn’t on the floor, this team is tough to watch. Once Davis left, this game was pretty much over. Nothing looked the same.

Here are my notes and observations from the game.

 

Nick’s Notes

 

1)   I spent a lot of time in my game preview discussing the importance of pick and roll defense. Well, we were pretty horrible at defending the pick and roll. In all fairness, our defense wasn’t really good anywhere.

2)   Tonight, a professional basketball team shot 42.1% from the free throw line (8-19). There is no excuse or explanation for that. For comparison, the Mavericks shot 94.1% (16-17).

3)   We turned the ball over 19 times tonight. Gordon led the team with 5. There were so many ugly passes tonight. At one point, Hubie Brown had to scream, “Look out!” because he was worried an outlet pass was heading towards press row. Yes, this is real life. This is not an NBA remake of Major League.

4)   Gordon’s play and value was a point of discussion tonight. In my opinion, tonight was a good example of him at his best. He scored 19 points on 11 shots, but it never felt like he took the game over. He can be a solid and efficient scorer, but I don’t think he can be a 20+ a night guy. That is just my opinion.

 5)   Brian Roberts frustrated me on defense again tonight, but he shot well.

 6)   Stiemsma had 2 rebounds and recorded no other statistic in 15 minutes. I was happy he didn’t commit a turnover or foul.

 7)   Ajinca played fine on offense again tonight, but his defense wasn’t great.

 8)   If Rivers could shoot free throws with the same confidence as 3-point shots, he’d raise his game to another level. Still, he shot the long ball well tonight. He also seemed to be a little frustrated at various points of the game. I actually liked that. I like a guy who hates to lose.

 9)   Darius Miller played tonight. He went 3 for 3 in garbage time. I didn’t really see anything I loved or hated. I’d like to see him get a few more minutes, but he probably isn’t our SF of the future.

 10)  Obviously, there will be a lot of talk about the injuries in the next few days. I don’t know what to say other than this has to be the unluckiest team in the NBA. I’m not a medical professional, but I don’t see how these injuries could be systematic. They seem like just freak unexplainable things.

 

Well, that is everything for tonight. There are 25 games left in the season. After tonight, tanking is going to be a major topic of conversation. No matter where you stand on that, be prepared.

The Pelicans play again this Friday in Phoenix. The game will be on ESPN at 9:30.

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