Pelicans' one big problem exposed in loss to Warriors

The New Orleans Pelicans' 2-0 startran into a Steph Curry Flurry and it was a scary Halloween Eve forthe Smoothie King Center’s fans.

The Golden State Warriors ran out130-102 winners of their third road game in four days. Sure, Stephwent supernova for a stretch to finish with 42 points but it wasthe shots that did not go in that determined the game.

Rebounding is becoming a problem forthe Pelicans. They were outdone 64-39 versus the Warriors, and NewOrleans has allowed 37 offensive rebounds in the last two games,both at home. The Knicks had 16 offensive rebounds, the Pelicansjust 4. Two nights later, Golden State got an extra 21 possessionsto find Curry roaming the perimeter. It almost became painful towatch how incapable the Pelicans were of stopping the inevitable.Curry had not played in New Orleans in years and this was justanother example of witnessing greatness.

On Monday, it did not help thatBrandon Ingram was out nursing an injury, Herb Jones (2 rebounds)got in foul trouble early, Jonas Valanciunas (6 rebounds) wasattacked relentlessly, and the team was still being cautions withLarry Nance Jr.’s minutes.

“In the second half, it just got awayfrom us," Pelicans head coach Willie Green said. "Curry hit somebig shots. Their second unit ... they came in and made plays. Andthe biggest thing for us improvement-wise is the rebounding. Itkilled us. But they’re an experienced team, and they get youscrambling on the perimeter. Shots go up and we’re just not in aposition to rebound, and that’s an area we have to be better.”

It’s tough to "play better" when fourkey contributors are on the bench. Matt Ryan, Kaiser Gates and KiraLewis Jr. finished with a combined 4 rebounds in 50 minutes. Theyfocus on other priorities beyond crashing the glass, yet areusually on the court together. Something has to give to change thetrend.

Zion Williamson’s analysis was spoton, saying: “They had a great third quarter, and we didn't play toowell. I didn't look at the numbers, but, from the eye test, theydominated us on the boards.”

The stat sheet agrees. With Ingramout, C.J. McCollum (6 rebounds) hoisted a team-high 21 shots to getjust 19 points. Williamson (5 rebounds) had 19 points on 15 shots.However, no one on the home team had more than 6 rebounds becausewhen the leading men missed tough shots, the Warriors finishedpossessions far too easily. After the loss, I asked Coach Green ifhe thought this was more of a tactical problem or just a lack ofeffort and execution.

“It is a little bit of both. It isdefinitely an area we need to improve upon. We have to rebound theball,” Green stressed. “Our defense is solid. We can get stops butwhen you give teams second and third chances, it gets kind ofdemoralizing.”

Steve Kerr’s game plan to corralWilliamson and win possessions took a toll, though Green thoughtthe Warriors got away with a few friendly no-calls.

“[The Warriors] were physical on him.He didn’t get some of the calls that I thought he should havegotten," Green said. "He played a solid game but give those guyscredit, they swarmed him. And, in the second half, we just didn’tknock down shots, but he did make the right plays.”

Williamson seemed close to disgustedwith the performance in his postgame press conference. The Warriorsjust got so many more chances to make the right play that there wasno other outcome possible.

The Pelicans were on the wrong end ofa near-30-point loss. It happens to every NBA team once a season.New Orleans needs a new gameplan to get those extra possessions toensure it’s their last time on the losing end of a blowout.