Pelicans at Timberwolves
The New Orleans Pelicans can't seem to sustain any momentum and may have hit rock bottom with a 127-94 home loss to the Utah Jazz on Wednesday. The Pelicans will try to pick up the pieces as they kick off a four-game road trip that will take them into the All-Star break with a visit to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
New Orleans thought it was moving in the right direction with a 111-106 win over Phoenix on Monday that ended a four-game slide, but allowing 127 points and 54.5 percent shooting to the third-lowest-scoring team in the NBA brought the emotions back down. "They are the perfect example of how we should play," Pelicans forward Donatas Motiejunas told reporters of the Jazz. "In this position today, we played like an amateur team. So, there's nothing else to say. It's just embarrassing." The Timberwolves are in the same position, struggling to stay relevant in the Western Conference while dealing with inconsistent results, but are coming off a win that snapped a four-game slide. Minnesota welcomed newcomer Lance Stephenson on Wednesday and got six points in 20 minutes off the bench from the veteran swingman, who was cut by New Orleans in early November.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN New Orleans, FSN North (Minnesota)
ABOUT THE PELICANS (20-33): New Orleans managed to beat both Cleveland and San Antonio in a three-game stretch last month but struggles to find a consistent effort and watches the offense grind to a halt when star forward Anthony Davis is contained defensively. Davis was limited to 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting in 30 minutes on Wednesday. "We would’ve liked for (Davis) to have more than 12 shots, but (the Jazz) do a good job of taking some things away from him," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry told reporters. "They are the No. 1 defensive team in the league, and you can see why."
ABOUT THE TIMBERWOLVES (20-33): Coach Tom Thibodeau has been critical of his team's effort on the defensive end all season - regularly calling out the best players on his team for their lack of performance on that end - and brought in Stephenson to give the team an edge. "It’s the NBA, everybody has to be ready," Thibodeau told reporters after giving Stephenson such a large role in his first game on Wednesday. "Whoever that next guy is, get in there and get the job done. He has been in a lot of games. Knowing the NBA is big plus and this is a great opportunity for him and it’s going to be what he makes of it. How hard he works, his professionalism, what kind of teammate he is, how he performs and helps us is critical." Stephenson is in line to absorb some of the minutes left open when Zach LaVine went down with a season-ending ACL injury last week.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Timberwolves veteran SG Brandon Rush started the last three games in place of LaVine and is averaging 3.3 points on 3-of-12 shooting in 25.7 minutes.
2. Pelicans SG Tyreke Evans (ankle) sat out Wednesday and is day-to-day.
3. New Orleans coasted to a 123-96 home win over Minnesota behind 45 points on 17-of-27 shooting from Davis on Nov. 23.