Pelicans busy trying to fix stuff before Lakers rematch

METAIRIE – The New Orleans Pelicans have a lot of stuff to work on.

And not a whole lot of time in which to do it.

The Pelicans lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 124-108 in the regular-season finale on Sunday in the Smoothie King Center. The loss – coupled with Phoenix’s 125-106 victory at Minnesota at the same time – dropped New Orleans from sixth place to seventh place in the Western Conference and out of the playoffs (at least temporarily) and into the play-in tournament.

For better or worse Sunday’s results set up a rematch between the Pelicans and the Lakers at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday night in the Smoothie King Center.

Center Larry Nance Jr. noted after practice Monday that Sunday’s afternoon start time gave the players the rest of Sunday as well as Monday morning to “digest” the short-comings in a third lopsided loss in four games against the Lakers this season.

Then head coach Willie Green and his staff showed the players the film, talked in detail about what wrong and then practiced the remedies.

The challenges are many.

The Pelicans need to get off to a better start after falling behind by 10 points after five minutes and never catching up Sunday.

They have to match the physicality of L.A. – “one of the most physical teams in the NBA,” said forward Trey Murphy III, who added that increased physicality will be the Pelicans’ “biggest focus” going into the game Tuesday.

They have defend the paint much better after getting outscored there 68-42 on Sunday. They have to do a better job of defending pick-and-rolls, especially ones involving former Pelican Anthony Davis, who had 30 points and 11 rebounds.

By the way, the Lakers, who did not practice Monday, listed Davis as “questionable” for Tuesday because of back spasms.

Green said the Pelicans’ had “too much miscommunication” on defense and will “mix up our coverages on pick and rolls.”

“They didn’t feel us,” Nance said of the Lakers. “They need to know we’re there.”

They have to do a better job of slowing down LeBron James, who finished with 28 points, 17 assists and 11 rebounds, not to mention doing a better job of putting Zion Williamson in good scoring position. New Orleans’ leading scorer made just 4 of 13 field-goal attempts and finished with 12 points after being guarded primarily by James, who finished with five steals.

Nance said James has “a mind for the game that is supreme.”

They have to do a better job of re-integrating their second-leading scorer, forward Brandon Ingram, who returned from a 12-game absence due to a hyper-extended knee to score 13 points on (6 of 9 shooting) in 23 minutes, 23 seconds of playing time.

Green said Ingram’s “body felt good” after the return and the forward went through the full practice Monday.

“I anticipate his minutes will go up (Tuesday),” Green added.

If the Pelicans show improvement in all of those areas they will have an opportunity to overcome a strange disparity between their home record and road record this season. They set a franchise record with a 28-14 road record during the regular season, including a six-game winning streak that put them on the cusp of avoiding the play-in tournament, but Sunday’s loss was their sixth in their last seven home games, dropping them to 21-19 in the SKC.

Green admitted that he had “no explanation” for the disparity, but added “it doesn’t matter now.” All that matters now is winning on Tuesday – or, failing that, beating the winner of Tuesday’s Golden State-Sacramento game in an elimination game Friday night in the SKC to claim a spot in the playoffs.

“It’s a privilege to play in the playoffs. It’s a privilege to play in the play-in,” Nance said. “That’s not given to anyone.”

Green said the Pelicans have to “play hard and together for 48 minutes” in order to have a different outcome Tuesday than they had Sunday.

“We had a good regular season and that put us in a really good spot and now we have a couple of chances to be a playoff team,” Green added. “I like where we are. I’m extremely confident in this group. Now we’ve got to do it.”