Writing this post was basically a practice in masochism.  This was a hard one to watch, and writing about it hurts.

In my pregame I mentioned a couple things the Pels would need to key in on to get a win tonight:

• Play as a team – The team had 17 assists to 18 turnovers.  The starters had 10 assists to 14 turnovers.  There was no ball movement, and many, many ill-advised drives to the basket.  It was ugly, the complete opposite of the Pels’ last game (should have seen it coming)
• Find a Way to Score – the Pels average 97ppg on the road, almost 10 less than they average at home, but tonight they barely even reached 80.  No one wins with 80, not without some amazing effort on defense (and the Pels neither amazing effort nor amazing defense).
• Eric Gordon – he attempted to shoulder a large load with Davis and Holiday out, but he bit off more than he could chew and could not keep up his shooting form.  He was largely ineffective, scoring 16 points on 16 shots (5 made).

Positives: The bench.  After being outscored 33-22 in the first, the bench brought the Pels back within 3 before the half.  Ajinca had a career night.  In 25 minutes he was 6-9 from the field for 16pts to go along with 14rebs.  He, Fredette, and Pondexter were the only ones on the team with a positive +/- in meaningful minutes.

Negatives: Everything else.  Blown out by a team with 2 home wins all season before tonight.  This was an embarrassing loss regardless of who was out, make no mistake about it.  Evans, replacing Holiday as the starting pg had 7 turnovers and 8 points.  Anderson, starting for Davis, had 8 points on 2-11 shooting.  To make matters worse, OKC beat the Warriors tonight, pulling even with New Orleans.  Up next for the Pels is Toronto, (OKC’s next opponent is Orlando).  If the Pels don’t figure things out soon, they’ll be watching their playoff hopes pass before their very eyes, despite the opportunities they have been given.

Toronto hosts the Pels on Sunday.  If we know anything about this Pelicans team, they won’t play the same way they did tonight, hopefully it is better.

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