Pelicans bench comes up empty in loss at Mavericks

Seven is not lucky for the New Orleans Pelicans, who lost their seventh straight game with a 108-82 decision Monday night at Dallas.

The Pelicans bench was again unproductive outside of Jaxson Hayes, the only reserve to score.

The New Orleans shooting from distance was again unproductive at 26.5 percent from 3-point range.

The Pelicans did not rebound well enough, either, losing the battle of the boards 46-39.

When you have one, count that, one player off your bench who scores for you, it is going to be a long night.

Without Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Herb Jones, New Orleans has no depth, no bench and no wins.

The Dallas bench outscored the New Orleans bench 42-10 and all 10 of those points came from Hayes.

To say that is poor would be accurate.

The Pelicans started well, even building a double-figure lead in the opening quarter and led 27-22 after one quarter.

Despite losing ground and the lead, New Orleans trailed just 51-47 at halftime.

Then came the second half where Dallas outscored the Pelicans 57-45.

Dallas opened the fourth quarter on a 14-0 run to put the game away as the New Orleans fourth quarter woes continue. It was too much to overcome as the Mavericks pulled out to an insurmountable 22-point lead.

To the Pelicans’ credit, New Orleans went on a 19-3 run to cut the deficit to 98-90 with 3:57 to play in the game but would get no closer.

In the midst of their misery, the Pelicans have been a horrible fourth quarter team.

That is largely due to the lack of any depth.

Give credit to Josh Hart, who played hard from start to finish and finished with 22 points, six rebounds and five assists. Jonas Valanciunas continued his outstanding play with another double-double, scoring 22 points with 11 rebounds. Nickeil Alexander Walker was better with 18 points but was just 2-for-11 from 3-point range. Garrett Temple was solid with 12 points and six rebounds.

The Pelicans lack a lead guard, overall leadership and depth. Willie Green is trying to provide leadership and positivity and that will grow as he matures in his job.

It is hard to mature when your two best players are not playing and when Kira Lewis, Thomas Satoransky, Trey Murphy and Naji Marshall give you nothing in reserve.

New Orleans finished the road trip 0-4 and returns home, where crowds have been sparse, to host Oklahoma City Wednesday night.

There is a chance that Ingram and Jones could return then.

Even when the attention from football ends, crowds will remain sparse as long as this is the product that we continue to see from the Pelicans, now 1-10 on the season as the team digs an even bigger hole to try to climb out of in the very tough Western Conference.

Fans simply cannot dig what they are seeing.