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The New Orleans Pelicans suffered perhaps their most frustrating loss of the 2017-18 NBA season on Friday night. Despite controlling the game early on in the first half, the Sacramento Kings bounced back to win 116-109 in overtime.
Needless to say, the loss to the lowly Kings left a bad taste in the mouth of the Pelicans. Especially for head coach Alvin Gentry, according to William Guillory of the Times-Picayune:
“We just can't afford to drop games like that, especially at home,” said Gentry. “The biggest thing was I didn't think we had the focus we needed. Everything came easy early and we never really just got locked in or focused in.”
Perhaps what made the loss even worse was the fact that New Orleans was up by nine late in the fourth before allowing Sacramento to force overtime. That was all the Kings needed as they scored twice as many points in the extra period than the Pelicans.
Although there were many issues plaguing New Orleans down the final stretch, the deciding factor may have been the 17 turnovers they had committed on the night. Furthermore, they were unable to prevent the inevitable defeat despite the return of superstar big man Anthony Davis.
New Orleans has been unable to maintain their position in the thick of the competitive Western Conference. It goes without saying that the Pelicans will need to capitalize on beating their weaker opponents if they want to avoid playing any of the juggernauts in the first round of the playoffs.
