The New Orleans Pelicans were at their best in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough, as the Pels fell to 1-1 in the preseason after a 101-99 loss to the Miami Heat.
The Pelicans were led by Zion Williamson, who posted a game-high 13 points in 17 minutes of action. Williamson was one of five Pels in double figures. Malcolm Hill came off the bench to score 12 points giving him 23 in two games. Dejounte Murray and Jordan Hawkins added 11 points each, and CJ McCollum finished with 10.
In his first game back with the Pelicans, Elfrid Payton had a game-high seven assists, and Javonte Green led all players with eight rebounds. Rookie Yves Missi had four of the Pelicans’ 11 blocked shots.
New Orleans was without Brandon Ingram (rest) and Trey Murphy III (hamstring) for the second consecutive game. Ingram is expected to make his preseason debut on Tuesday when the Pelicans visit the Houston Rockets.
Despite some individual positives, the Pelicans were generally outplayed by the Heat. New Orleans was outscored in three of four quarters and failed to display the same type of pace and energy it had against the Magic. The Pelicans trailed by seven at the half and fell behind by as many as 20 points during the third quarter before their late spurt.
Once again, Williamson looks ready for the regular season. After two preseason games, Zion is tied with Jordan Hawkins for the team lead in scoring (14.5 ppg) while shooting 61.9 percent from the floor.
He’s rebounded well, with 10 boards in just over 36 minutes of action, though Williamson only grabbed two against the Heat.
He buried a pull-up jumper in the first quarter while being guarded by Bam Adebayo and attempted a three-pointer for the second straight game. Zion has even made all of his free throws (3-for-3).
The rest of the starters were less impressive on Sunday afternoon.
Dejounte Murray shot the ball much better than he did in his debut, except from three-point range. Murray is 1-for-7 from beyond the arc over two games. However, the offense did not run smoothly against the Heat.
Murray finished with only two assists and the Pelicans struggled to generate any semblance of flow, or spacing, or consistently find quality shot attempts. Through three quarters New Orleans shot 43.3% from the floor (24.1 3P%).
Herb Jones was plagued with turnovers, CJ McCollum was misfiring, and Daniel Theis was…there too.
If you are a naysayer regarding the long-term viability of small ball, your greatest fears were on display against the Heat.
The Pelicans could not rebound, particularly at the center position. Theis and Missi combined for four boards in 33 minutes. New Orleans was outscored in the paint by 14 points and beaten on the fast break by 15.
The Pelicans had 19 assists on 36 baskets. In 82 regular season games and four playoff games, New Orleans had fewer than 20 assists just four times. Unsurprisingly, the Pels lost all four games.
Three-point attempts fell from 40 against the Magic to 37 on Sunday. The Pelicans made nine. In 22 games last season with 9 or fewer threes made, New Orleans was 5-17 (.227).
The absence of Ingram and Murphy mitigates some criticism of the Pelicans’ performance. However, adding them to the equation doesn’t solve the problems on the glass and in the middle.
After two preseason games, the New Orleans Pelicans look like one of the most volatile teams in the NBA. If it goes right, the Pels could finally escape the play-in tournament and potentially get to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in seven years.
If it goes wrong…at least it will be entertaining.
