Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Just as they were getting their hopes up, the Lakers saw their two game win streak come to an end tonight in a 132-125 loss at home against the New Orleans Pelicans, making their record 21-40 on the season. The Lakers offense continues to put up big numbers, but it seems as though their defense is the main roadblock in their plans to make progress as they continue to allow the opposition to put up much more impressive offensive numbers.
Los Angeles let the Pelicans to have an amazing first half by giving up 67 points and allowing them to shoot 56.8% from the field. The Lakers were also significantly out rebounded in the first half 23-13, and showed poor ball security by letting the opposition get 7 steals by half time.
The Pelicans continued to attack the lane time and time again with little to no resistance from the Laker defense, leading to 54 points in the paint for New Orleans. Pelican forward Anthony Davis definitely had his way tonight notching a double double with 28 points on 10 of 16 shooting and owning the glass by pulling down 15 rebounds. Tyreke Evans also had an overwhelming presence in this game with 24 points, 11 assists, and 7 rebounds, and Eric Gordon shot the lights out scoring 28 points on 4 of 5 shooting from the arc. New Orleans point guard Brian Roberts (filling in for Jrue Holiday due to surgery on a broken foot — out for the season) also had a solid scoring night with 19 points, most of which came from uncontested floaters in the lane.
Pau Gasol had another big night pulling in yet another double double with 29 points and 12 rebounds, and he shot 7 of 7 from the free throw line in the first half. He also had the first 13 points for the Lakers as it seemed no one else was being aggressive or looking to score; however, it really proved to be a tale of two halves as the Spaniard went ice cold from the line in the second half, missing critical foul shots to bring the Lakers within reach of the victory. Kent Bazemore once again led the team in minutes played this game and had a strong scoring night with 23 points, and Jodie Meeks chipped in with 17 points. Jordan Farmar was two assists away from a double double (20 points and 8 rebounds), but he really proved to be efficient by finishing the game with only 1 turnover. Coming off of injury, Xavier Henry capitalized on his increase in minutes tonight by scoring 12 points, a much needed improvement from his 0 point performance the previous night on 4 minutes of playing time.
MarShon Brooks and Kendall Marshall were much too quiet tonight for the Lakers. Marshall yet again hit double digit assists (10) but didn’t leave a scratch in the scoring column, and Brooks only had 4 points. Jordan Hill and Chris Kaman once again did not play on a coach’s decision. It appears as though coach D’Antoni is leaning towards going with a small lineup as a part of his strategy, but one can only speculate that this may push Hill and Kaman to possibly seek a spot on another team’s roster next season; however, it is still too early to tell what anyone is planning to do next season.
Game Notes
Nick “Swaggy P” Young is still out due to a sore knee. Lakers win streak stopped at 2 as they fall to 21-40 on the season. Lakers next game is Thursday March 6th against their hallway rivals the Los Angeles Clippers.