Pelicans ‘punched’ in the mouth by Lakers, whom they’ll see again in Play-in Tournament

NEW ORLEANS — Sunday’s regular-season finale was supposed to be a coronation for the New Orleans Pelicans.

They were returning home after four crucial road wins that allowed them to control their playoff destiny heading into their final game. A win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday would’ve given the Pelicans:

• Their first five-game winning streak of the season.
• The No. 6 seed in the Western Conference and a guaranteed spot in the playoffs.
• The second 50-win season in franchise history.

In addition, it was Brandon Ingram’s first game back in the lineup after missing the previous 12 with a knee injury — not to mention the animosity that’s in the building anytime Anthony Davis visits his old stomping grounds at Smoothie King Center.

The stage was set for New Orleans to earn a statement win. Instead, the Lakers blitzed them from the start, built a 32-point lead and cruised to a 124-108 victory. Considering the stakes and the anticipation coming into the game, it may have been the Pels’ most disastrous performance of the season.

They lacked precision and focus. It was eerily similar to their worst night of the season back in December when the Lakers rolled them by 44 points in Las Vegas during the semifinals of the In-Season Tournament.

As a result, they’ll face these same Lakers again Tuesday in New Orleans in the 7-8 matchup of the Play-In Tournament. The winner moves on to face the defending champion Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs. The loser hosts the winner of Sacramento/Golden State in a win-or-go-home matchup on Friday.

“In that first half, they punched us right in the mouth,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “We let a really good opportunity slip away.”

These kind of letdowns at home have become familiar for a team that still managed to put together one of its most successful seasons since moving to New Orleans.

The Pels finished with 49 wins — tied for the second-most in franchise history — despite failing to win more than four consecutive games all season and going 21-19 at home.

When this team is fully engaged, it can be dominant. It looked as if this group was poised to do damage in the playoffs after picking up wins at Phoenix, Sacramento and Golden State last week despite Ingram’s absence.

However, those flashes of brilliance are often the source of the frustrations New Orleans has dealt with from the fan base and within the organization. The potential to evolve into a top contender in the West certainly exists with the talent on this roster and the problems it presents when all the pieces are clicking.

The biggest issue hasn’t been how good the Pels can be when everything comes together. It’s how long they can sustain that level of play, especially during stretches of adversity in front of their home crowd.

Instead of securing their spot in the playoffs and getting a few days off, the Pelicans will have to respond once again with their backs against the wall. They’ve certainly shown the ability to do that on several occasions. If anything, those moments of turmoil have produced some of this team’s most impressive performances.

Whether it was the 4-6 start to the season, the beatdown in Vegas or losing five out of six in the biggest homestand of the season, this team has mastered the art of picking itself up off the mat and coming back stronger.

But those stretches of inconsistency (and a ridiculously deep field of Western Conference teams) have left the Pels with practically no margin for error. Either they get it together quickly, or this season that’s been full of promise will be over much sooner than expected.

“We know what the deal was. They were the aggressors,” Green said. “When you’re the aggressive team, things go your way. They had us on our heels all game.”

The Lakers have been a nightmare matchup for New Orleans all season. They have three wins over the Pelicans by 15 or more points and have held leads of 30-plus points in two of those wins.

The size and physicality that LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura present in the frontcourt have given New Orleans problems. It can be an even bigger issue now that the Pelicans have found so much comfort in shifting into smaller lineups with Zion Williamson or Larry Nance Jr. at center over the past few weeks.

On Sunday, the Lakers outscored New Orleans in the paint by a whopping 50-12 in the first half. James and Davis got shots at the rim whenever they felt like it.

Some of that is due to New Orleans failing to match the force and assertiveness the Lakers brought from the opening tip. But the Pelicans won’t be able to find any simple solutions to deal with the Lakers’ two best players between now and Tuesday.

New Orleans limited both of them enough to come away with a 129-109 win on Dec. 31. To conjure up that kind of performance again will require everyone coming in with a level of urgency and determination that was absent Sunday.

“They’ve got a real paint presence with LeBron getting downhill consistently (and) AD being a roll threat. (Davis) was offensive rebounding and he had some dunks,” CJ McCollum said. “We’ve just got to do a better job being more solid defensively.”

The entire Pelicans roster has to come in with a better mindset to begin Tuesday’s game, but the responsibility to bring that energy will fall on Williamson’s shoulders more than almost anyone else.

Tuesday’s game will be his first taste of the postseason, and there will be a lot of eyes on his matchup against James, the most experienced postseason performer in NBA history.

Williamson is coming off a performance that lacked the physical dominance and relentless activity that’s become a signature part of his resurgence the past few months. He finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and eight assists but also turned the ball over four times in the first half and never got into a rhythm. It’ll take some time for him and Ingram to find the right balance with their two-man game again, but it has to start with Williamson setting the table with his aggression.

His incredible jump on the defensive end has been one of the primary aspects of his improved play, and he seemed to take a step back on that end against the Lakers. There were a few times he allowed drives to the basket with very little resistance.

There will be a lot of chatter about his no-show in Vegas leading up to Tuesday’s matchup. He’ll get a chance to quiet his critics again with a performance that mirrors what he’s looked like regularly since the All-Star break.

“I think I was just being too passive. I don’t think I was super aggressive the whole game,” Williamson said. “If I go back and watch film, I’ll be able to break down more.”

It wasn’t just Williamson, though.

New Orleans’ defensive effort and communication were downright awful. James had 13 assists at halftime, and he finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 17 dimes.

After the Lakers got off to a hot start, the Pelicans adjusted by shifting into a 2-3 zone. James immediately recognized it and found Hachimura cutting baseline on at least three occasions, which led to easy looks.

One of the signatures of the Pelicans’ defense this season has been the on-ball pressure provided by Herb Jones, Jose Alvarado, Dyson Daniels and Naji Marshall against guards. It wasn’t there nearly enough on Sunday. Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell combined for 39 points, as they were allowed to walk into open 3-pointers all game.

If the Pels are going to save their season, there has to be more fight and desperation in everything they do.

If they look as relaxed and out of sync as they did Sunday, the Lakers may end up embarrassing them on national TV once again.

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(Top photo of Zion Williamson and Anthony Davis: Tyler Kaufman / Getty Images)