HOUSTON — One day after suffering an embarrassing blowout defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers, the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday held one of their longest practices of the season.
They were on the floor for hours, and that was followed by a lengthy player’s only meeting.
For New Orleans, a season that started with so much promise is in danger of resulting in another lottery appearance. Since the calendar changed from December to January, the Pelicans have the fourth-worst record in the NBA.
On Friday, the Pelicans’ slide continued. They lost to the Houston Rockets 114-112 at Toyota center. New Orleans had a 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter, but it was unable to hang on.
Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. hit a pull-up 3 with 0.4 seconds left, a shot that put the Rockets ahead by two points. The Pelicans were unable to get a shot off before the buzzer. Rockets center Boban Marjanovic tipped the Pelicans’ inbounds pass.
“It just came down to the final quarter, making plays,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “They made a few more plays than we did. They hit some big shots down the stretch.”
Brandon Ingram had game-high 31 points, and Jonas Valanciunas scored 22 points — his most in a game since Jan. 16. Jalen Green led the way for the Rockets with 25 points. Smith only had 11, but he was responsible for sinking the most important shot of the game.
Houston outscored New Orleans 34-22 in the fourth quarter.
“We kind of gave up,” Valanciunas said. “We kind of let down. Our defense, I don’t know. We relaxed. I don’t know what to say. We s*** the bed.”
New Orleans’ starting unit, which includes Ingram and Valanciunas along with Herb Jones, Trey Murphy and CJ McCollum, has been a net negative this season. In Houston, that five-man lineup got New Orleans off to a great start.
The Pelicans took a 26-12 lead before the first quarter was even halfway over.
New Orleans looked to feed Valanciunas against under-sized Houston early and often. Valanciunas had 10 points and 10 rebounds at halftime.
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