Pelicans Score More Points Than Sixers

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Published: February 20, 2016

The New Orleans Pelicans (21-33) ended the game following regulation play with a larger point total than the Philadelphia 76’ers (8-46), with the totals being 121 and 114, respectively.

Gentry’s “new season,” where they are 1-0, started off well enough. Jahlil Okafor picked up 3 quick fouls to help the Pelicans surge to a 37-26 lead after the first quarter. It was 10-10 when Okafor charged Asik with 6:24 left in the quarter. That 27-16 “eighth” is a good quarter, numberwise, but the impressive scoring against a bad team that just got worse was paired with very bad defense… enough defense, but bad defense, which is a theme.

The Sixers shot 52.6% compared to the Pelicans, who shot 50.6%. The Pelicans had 3 fewer turnovers, made 10 more free throws, and killed on the boards and on the break. Still, the Pelicans saw a lead of over 20 drop to just 1 near the game’s end. Davis, Anderson, and Holiday, in an impressive 33 minutes, all scored over 20 and combined for 84 points.

Still, the Pelicans “new season” will be said to start at 1-0, but let it not be forgotton that it is the leadt impressive 1-0 possible. Their early lead served only to highlight the collapse and a “weakened” Sixers teams who had Okafor limited to just 19 minutes after giving his 6 fouls away in rapid fashion. He had 14 points in 9 shots and 5 rebounds by the way. The Pelicans did not go big much whil managing to clean the glass well, but the Sixers’ best big men played well, with Noel scoring 24 pointa on 15 shots while contributing rebounds and assists. Again, very underwhelming defense by the Pelicans.

Still, the main issue is the focus of the team, as the collapse shows. Still, changes to what they do are simply not evident yet. The only saving grace is Holiday and Davis looked good together. We knew that, but getting the minutes in counts.

The Pelicans now travel to Detroit to take on the Pistons. They will will at 2:30 pm CT (UTC -6) Sunday. The game can be found on Fox Sports New Orleans and on the Pelicans Radio Network, 99.5 FM locally.

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