Status quo for Pelicans in loss to Wolves

Early Wednesday evening, a second line paraded to the home of Fats Domino in the Lower 9th Ward. Then, the Minnesota Timberwolves enjoyed their walk to New Orleans, as the Magic did Monday night, leaving the Pelicans and its fans with a Blue Monday.

Jimmy Butler converted a 3-point play with 34 seconds left when fouled by E’Twaun Moore to lift Minnesota to a 104-98 victory over the plodding Pelicans.

Tied at 98, after DeMarcus Cousins made two free throws with 1:45 to play, the Pelicans went scoreless the rest of the way.

Once again, the lack of depth was painfully evident as the New Orleans bench was outscored 43-17. Josh Smith did not play and has been no factor since coming on board as of yet in the three games he has been here. Tony Allen did score a season-high 10 points.

When you have no bench, you had better get serious production out of your starters. Jrue Holiday had 14 points and the big two, Cousins and Anthony Davis, combined for 59 points and 19 rebounds. Cousins’ night included five 3-pointers but the rest of the Pelicans were horrible from distance, connecting on just 3-of-21 (14%) from beyond the arc.

Once again, New Orleans got nothing out of its wing players. E’Twaun Moore and Dante Cunningham combined for eight points. In New Orleans’ five losses, Moore has scored a total of 32 points, an average of 6.4 points. You typically will not win in the NBA when your shooting guard does not score.

Cunningham has squeezed off 29 attempts from 3-point range in eight games, making just seven. He does not have 3-point range and teams are shading and doubling down on Davis near the block and giving the perimeter shot to Cunningham.

Despite forcing 21 turnovers, the Pelicans gave it back with 19, including a critical turnover by Jrue Holiday with 24 seconds left on a bad pass with New Orleans down 101-98. Shortly after, Holiday missed badly on a corner 3-point attempt to seal the deal. Holiday had 14 points and six assists but was 0-for-5 from 3-point range and he was counted on to be a productive shooting guard this season. He is now at 33 percent from 3-point range on the season.

New Orleans was outrebounded 47-38.

Minnesota is now 5-3 and on the rise with a young team, despite some defensive issues. An indicator of how the Timberwolves are more versatile than the Pelicans is that star Karl-Anthony Towns scored just two points and his team still won. Can you envision New Orleans beating a winning team if Davis or Cousins scored just two points?

New Orleans is 3-5 and, well, you could say running in place or in a status quo mode. Unable to win at home against beatable teams, the Pelicans open a four-game road trip at Dallas Friday night. It was a missed opportunity to rise about .500 for the first time in three seasons. Ain’t that a shame!