The New Orleans Pelicans (4-12) try to recover from the loss last night to the Los Angeles Clippers by taking on the Utah Jazz (7-7) in Salt Lake City tonight at 8 CT (UTC -6). The game is on the Pelicans Radio Network (99.5 FM locally) and Fox Sports New Orleans.

As players, the Jazz are good; as a team, they are average. They rely on rebounding and turnovers to generate their volume, but they are not efficient, and their defense does not snuff out efficiency by limiting free throws and threes. Rather, they try to limit shots at the rim, which does address the most efficient shots, and try to limit threes by dictating pace and personnel.

The Pelicans will likely need to commit to Asik tonight to counter Gobert’s 35 minutes per game, plus play Ajinca in an effort to get some offense going down low. They have to limit the rebounding (hopefully by never missing a shot) and watch the turnovers. I keep beating this drum, but I don’t think I’m alone, but the guards need to attack the rim in an attempt to score or get to the line. The Jazz have made a concerted effort to limit this in recent games, so they know it’s a weakness. All the more reason to pick on that particular sore.

• Davis was questionable to return to the Clippers game, but he did not. He is undergoing further evaluation. I’m assuming that he’s going to play until they tell me otherwise. Remember, the initial evaluation revealed no structural damage, but a contusion and swelling can mask some diagnostic information. This is wholly wait-and-see.
• Evans may play tonight in a way that is more substantial the trivial “may.” Let’s hope so.
• Cole is getting closer to returning in a way that is not the times moves forward way.
• I don’t see a reason for Holiday not to play some minutes tonight since he didn’t exhaust his store last night. Also, his restrictions, including that on back-to-backs perhaps, are set to relax. What a better way to transition? We’ll see.

This is the second night of a back-to-back on the three-game road trip, and the injuries linger even if not as much as they did a month ago. This one may be tough, but it would be a helpful win in the standings going into December, where the schedule doesn’t exactly loosen its death grip.

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