The New Orleans Pelicans close out 2014 at 16-16 after losing in overtime to the San Antonio Spurs, 95-93.

A short-lived peppy start (9-2 in just over 6 minutes of play), the Pelicans stalled nearly completely on offense, but only slightly on defense, with the half finishing 28-38 in favor of the Spurs. The Pelicans surged in the third, with the quarter ending 60-62 in favor of the Spurs. The game was relatively tight from then on, and the Pelicans tied the game at 80 with 2 minutes left. The teams traded blows, the Spurs, with just 0.7s left to play and down 2, eventually forced overtime by way of a long inbound pass to Tim Duncan was tipped by Asik (maybe Asik and Duncan slightly, I just can’t tell 100% for sure) . . . onto the rim . . . roll around . . . overtime.

Here again, and early Pelicans lead was erased, but this time the team lost Holiday after his sixth foul. After that, Ginobili had a pair of layups, and he and Green each had a pair of foul shots. After getting the ball with 24s (plus a little) and down 1, the Pelicans could not get a play together, Evans missed a long 3, and they fouled Duncan on the rebound. He intentionally missed after a make (the lead now being 2), and the Pelicans got a timeout after a Davis rebound. The pass-and-tip attempt with 0.3s left (Davis) did not work, and the Spurs won, 95-93.

Notes

• Following up from the pregame:
  • I said the Pelicans needed to win the turnover battle. They lost 17-14 (total team turnovers)
  • I said the Pelicans needed to win the rebound battle. They won 52-48 but their ORB% was merely fair (11/51).
  • All that said, the real keys to this ended up being the Pelicans just playing with horrid offense in the first half (even the first 6 minutes where the built the lead was not pretty), that really lucky tip-in, and the Holiday foul out.
• The Pelicans’ offense was horrid. They came up to 34/89 after shooting 15/50 from the field in the first half. We can nitpick plays or focus on these huuuuge tracks of time.
• Evans and Holiday combined for 10/36 from the field, 3/12 from 3 (Evans was 0 of 6 after his final shot), 9 rebounds, 12 assists to 2 turnovers, 4 steals and 7 fouls. Not a bad line . . . other than the shooting.
• Fredette had a second good night. 14 points on 8 shots, 3 rebounds, but 2 turnovers, 0 assists, 0 steals. 24 minutes, including overtime. Keep watching.
• Anderson had a good night. 18 points on 18 shots, which is not his most efficient, but he was 5/10 from 2, 2/8 from 3, 2/2 at the line, and added 11 rebounds. He had 2 turnovers to pair with his 2 assists, but one of those turnovers was late in the game . . . a shockingly high pass to Davis, up 1 with 1:01 left.
• After Holiday’s exit, Cunningham replaced him, and he joined Anderson, Davis, Evans, Fredette on the court. Manu scored easily. On a later defensive possession. Rivers was in for Cunningham, and Manu scored easily. I can’t tell if this was on Manu, Monty, Cunningham, Rivers, Anderson (whom Duncan passed over to get the ball to Manu), or what, but I’m not sure the Spurs are scoring so easily down the stretch (4 points from the field, 4 free throw attempts in 52s) with Holiday in. Him fouling out was a big deal.

Looking Forward

The Pelicans’ loss to the Spurs kept them from capturing the 8th seed to start 2015. Fortunately, that does not matter too much. The Suns also lost their overtime match against the Thunder, so the Pelicans remain just a game behind them in the race for the eighth. The Thunder, however, are just a half game behind the Pelicans.

January holds promise for the Pelicans, but it does not start off with gimme-type-games. The Pelicans play the Rockets and Wizards, both in the New Orleans, on Friday and Monday, respectively.

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Lagniappe

It’s a New Year. Enjoy it, and be safe tonight.