One of the main talking points for the New Orleans Pelicans coming into the restart is the strict minutes restrictions the coaching staff has given on rookie sensation Zion Williamson. However, after another loss on Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers, head coach Alvin Gentry explained another aspect his team must focus on aside from the absence of their budding superstar.
Speaking after New Orleans' disappointing 126-103 blowout loss against LA, Gentry admitted that his team needs to make better decisions moving forward.
“It wasn’t the effort we played with,” the Pelicans coach said, via Christian Clark of nola.com. “It was the decision-making.
“They made a bunch of 3s. That being said, I still think the game came down to: We have to start managing out turnovers. It’s been our Achilles' heel the last two games.”
The Pelicans turned the ball over 18 times on Saturday, which was just two better than the 20 turnovers they committed against the Utah Jazz in their opening night defeat on Thursday. That's a total of 38 turnovers in just two games, and unsurprisingly, both have resulted in losses.
New Orleans has not provided the specifics of Zion's status moving forward and how they intend to increase his minutes in the next few games. At this point, it appears that the Pelicans will need to continue planning without their highly promising prospect.
Two straight defeats for the Pelicans means that they are drifting away from the eighth and ninth seeds in the West, serving as significant blows for their postseason hopes this season.
Follow Us
Subscribe