Pelicans waste big efforts from Cousins, Davis in loss to Timberwolves

NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Pelicans three game home stand ended with a thud in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 104-98, on Wednesday night.

It was the second consecutive loss for the Pelicans, who fell to 3-5 on the season and just 1-3 at the Smoothie King Center.

DeMarcus Cousins had a historic night, becoming the first player in NBA history to post 35 points, nine rebounds, six assists, six steals, three blocks and a career-high tying five three-pointers. Anthony Davis added 24 points, 10 boards, six assists and three steals.

Yet, the duo’s efforts were still not enough.

Unfortunately, in an all too familiar storyline, the Pelicans’ dynamic duo got precious little help from the rest of their teammates, who combined for a total of just 39 points.

Even more disappointing was the fact that Karl-Anthony Towns, who entered the game averaging 24.1 points per game for the T-Wolves, was limited to two points and five rebounds while playing only 22 minutes due to foul trouble and the Pelicans still couldn’t leave with a win.

“We took one of the best centers in the league right out of the game,” said Head Coach Alvin Gentry. “I thought AD and DeMarcus both did a great job on him and put a lot of pressure on him to guard. I didn’t think that we had very good play from the perimeter.”

The Pelicans starting backcourt of Jrue Holiday and E’Twaun Moore had its second consecutive sub-par performance. The pair scored a total of 19 points. Minnesota’s Jimmy Butler had a team-high 23 to outscore them both on two fewer shot attempts.

New Orleans fell behind quickly as the Timberwolves started the game on an 8-2 run. Minnesota would win the quarter 31-28. They got plenty of help from the Pels, who turned the ball over seven times and allowed the visitors to shoot 52 percent from the floor.

The second quarter was even worse defensively. Minnesota made 13 of its 18 field goal attempts, including eight of nine in the paint. Particularly painful were the final seconds of the half. With a chance to go into the break trailing by single digits, the Pelicans allowed Taj Gibson to receive an inbound pass with less than two seconds on the clock for an unimpeded dunk. New Orleans trailed 65-54 at the half.

The Pelicans turned the ball over 13 times in the first half, and finished the game with 19, one shy of the season-high 20 they set on Monday.

“I thought the first half we turned the ball over way too many times,” said Gentry. “We ended up giving up twenty-seven points off of turnovers. It’s hard to defend the turnover in this league, especially live turnovers so that gave them life.”

“I think we’re trying to get into our mix a lot, isolation basketball, and then when it’s not there we try to force passes,” added Davis. “We should hit the guys as soon as they’re open. We try to make those passes a little too late, so they end up becoming turnovers. We’ve got to get back to sharing the basketball.”

As they have throughout the season thus far, the Pelicans fought their way back into the game in the third quarter. Though they shot under 39 percent in the third quarter, the Pels were aggressive on the defensive end of the floor. Minnesota shot 7 for 21 from the field, including just one of five three point attempts, and scored only 18 points.

With Cousins (8), Davis (7), and Holiday (6) scoring 21 points, the Pelicans were down by six points heading into the fourth quarter.

Still needing a spark, the Pelicans turned to veteran Tony Allen. With the rest of the reserves stuck in neutral, Allen started the fourth quarter and matched Cousins with a team-high 8 points in the fourth on 4-of-5 shooting. It was exactly the kind of effort the Pelicans fans and players have come to expect from “The Grindfather” throughout his career.

“Whenever my number is called I want to be effective in any way possible,” said Allen. “Whether it’s passing out towels, giving somebody some advice, giving a teammate some water…whatever the case may be.”

“Tony played great,” Cousins added. “He was huge for us tonight. A lot of big stops. He hit some tough layups for us; made some plays for us on both ends. So it’s good to have him coming into form.”

Allen’s only miss came at a critical moment. With the game tied at 98, the ball was in his hands underneath the rim and with the T-Wolves swarming he missed a layup. Towns grabbed the rebound and Jimmy Butler got a basket and a foul that effectively ended the game.

Butler had 23 points to lead Minnesota and was one of six Timberwolves in double figures.

This was a game that the Pelicans were supposed to win. This was a game that they needed to win.

In Hornets/Pelicans franchise history, not one of their playoff teams had a losing home record after four games. The one home win this season over the Cleveland Cavaliers becomes less impressive with each passing day as the Cavs sit at 3-5, the same mark as the Pelicans.

The Pelicans have two of the top 10 most efficient players in the NBA in Davis and Cousins, the only team with that distinction, and still they can’t seem to make it work.

While people inside and outside of the organization may look to the return of Rajon Rondo for hope, the team’s flaws are apparent to anyone paying attention.

Jrue Holiday remains an enigma. Of Holiday’s 14 points last night, 12 came in the first and third quarters. Holiday had a single assist in the final quarter and committed a crucial turnover in the last 30 seconds of the game. He followed that up with an air-balled corner three. On a team in desperate need of scoring from the wing, Holiday has proven time again that he doesn’t have the desire to be the type of scoring guard the team wants him to be or the type of skill to be the point guard that he has to be while Rondo is on the sidelines.

Jameer Nelson, lauded as a steadying backcourt presence upon his arrival, has become a non-factor in the last two losses. In 20 minutes of action Nelson scored no points, but did manage to hand out three assists. Over his last three games, he’s scored a total of five points on 2-of-9 shooting.

Ian Clark, Darius Miller, Cheick Diallo and Josh Smith tallied seven points between them, with Smith never getting off the bench. That makes the decision to sign Smith and release Jordan Crawford all the more puzzling. We won’t even talk about Alexis Ajinca or Omir Asik who seem to be getting paid not to play.

Good teams don’t start 1-3 at home. Good teams don’t lose when their opponents’ best player is held to a single basket. Good teams don’t make the same mistakes over and over again.

The Pelicans are not a good team. It is a team with two extraordinary talents surrounded by a very ordinary supporting cast.

With four road games ahead, nothing seems certain for the Pelicans. On paper, they should be able to beat both the lowly Dallas Mavericks and Chicago Bulls with ease. The Indiana Pacers are one of the surprise teams in the league right now and they just beat the Cavaliers by 17 points. The Toronto Raptors were Eastern Conference semifinalists last season.

Winning any game in professional sports is hard, but that’s what the job is. Tom Benson didn’t shell out nearly $120 million for these types of performances and clearly the fans aren’t coming to see them.

Though the calendar just turned to November, the sand is emptying the hourglass very quickly for the Pelicans. The franchise put all of its chips in the center of the table, betting that they have a winning hand. Right now it appears that they’re just bluffing.