2 Games, 2 Injuries, 1 Loss, 1 Win
Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2025 5:58 am
The Medical Unit Keeps Growing
Cam Reddish has scored 20+ points in the Pelicans' two Tatum-less victories
The shellacking in Sacramento surprised none, though one part of the performance against the Kings did shock. But we'll get to that. And no, it wasn't Mark Williams getting injured to continue the string of dings suffered by the New Orleans Pelicans.
The game left J.D. Davison too injured to play the next night in Los Angeles against the Lakers. That meant all 48 minutes for Coby White, Moses Brown starting at center and playing 41 minutes, and an 8-man rotation for a team that prefers to go 10 deep in their regular lineups.
The dire predictions of the long losing streak seemed imminent.
And then these Pelicans played like Angry Birds.
Suffocating, frustrating defense was on display for the literal first jump, as New Orleans flew out to a 23-7 first quarter, and kept pummeling all game long, only giving up the fourth quarter by a single point as exhaustion set in. 93-69 win, holding the Lakers to 27.8% from the floor, 24.2% from 3 point range. And scoring 93 without Jayson Tatum. And without attempting a single free throw all night.
The scoring leader was of course Cam Reddish with 22 points, 4 rebounds, a steal, and a block. But it was much-maligned Moses Brown who was Player of the Game, bullying his way to 16 points, 19 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks in his outsized minutes. Just missing a triple-double for his full game was Coby White, who put up 8 points, 10 assists, and 9 rebounds - his fourth game with 10+ assists without Tyrese Maxey. The rest of the season? Just two. Clearly a Maxey-absent lineup allows the floor general's skills to flourish in playmaking.
Jalen Smith stormed off the bench for 16 points, 6 rebounds, and a block, and Kevin Huerter's 11 points was so shocking to everyone, including himself, that he bruised his shoulder banging into his teammates in celebration, becoming the latest injury and at least the third or fourth straight injured Pelican in as many games.
But let's talk about surprises.
Because we can't talk about surprises and New Orleans without talking about...
Scotty Pippen Jr. is making a strong challenge for the starting SG spot
Small sample sizes and narrow margins aside, Scotty Pippen Jr. has been a net positive +/- all three games he's started at SG, the only Pelican to attain that metric. His defensive work has been particularly lauded - his 0.88 PA/SF on the season is the best of any perimeter player, and superseded team-wide only by Mark Williams and Moses Brown.
The counting stats don't look great for the raw, slow-growth 9th overall selection, but under the hood, he's building a standout argument to make the starting spot his between Coby White and Jayson Tatum, allowing Cam Reddish to take on a 32 MPG 6th man role. Certainly he'll continue manning that spot with Tatum and Huerter out with injury and continue to stake out why he should be elevated for the rest of the year... or lose it and head back down to the second team until he develops more.
And on the negative side of Pelican-related surprises...
Tyrese Maxey is hating Houston so far
Let's roll the tape on Tyrese Maxey in a Rockets uniform.
Game 1: 3/10, 3/9: 11 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4 turnovers, -15 (L)
Game 2: 4/10, 3/6: 11 points, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers, -19 (L)
Game 3: 3/12, 3/10: 8 points, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover, -8 (L)
Game 4: 3/11, 3/11: 9 points, 5 assists, -13 (L)
You can talk about how he had tough opponents - which he did - but despite moving to a more up-tempo offense, his FGA has gone from 12.9 to 10.75, his 11 points or lower rate has gone from 24.4% to 100%, and his assists/game have gone from 5.1 to 2.5.
In short, with the Pelicans, Maxey was a primary facilitator (he actually led the team in APG) and a volume second scorer next to Tatum - capable of bursting out with moderate to large scoring totals on a regular basis. With the Rockets, his early returns are a much less efficient third or fourth shot taker (His TS% and EFG% have both dropped)in the Rockets' frequent experiments.
"It's so crazy here, man. In Philly and N'Awlins, they were like be patient, probe the defense, make lots of passes, look for the best shot. Here, they're like, we want you firing at the net first reasonable chance you get. We want a fire in 7 seconds max per possession. And I'm just like wait, what? Like my first instinct is to wait and see what's there first. It's a whole different thing you know, and it's just gonna take me some time to get used to how different they do it here," said Maxey after the most recent loss, which put the Rockets 5.5 games behind the Pelicans, tied with the Oklahoma City for the 9th spot and home court advantage in the first play-in tournament undercard game.
Cam Reddish has scored 20+ points in the Pelicans' two Tatum-less victories
The shellacking in Sacramento surprised none, though one part of the performance against the Kings did shock. But we'll get to that. And no, it wasn't Mark Williams getting injured to continue the string of dings suffered by the New Orleans Pelicans.
The game left J.D. Davison too injured to play the next night in Los Angeles against the Lakers. That meant all 48 minutes for Coby White, Moses Brown starting at center and playing 41 minutes, and an 8-man rotation for a team that prefers to go 10 deep in their regular lineups.
The dire predictions of the long losing streak seemed imminent.
And then these Pelicans played like Angry Birds.
Suffocating, frustrating defense was on display for the literal first jump, as New Orleans flew out to a 23-7 first quarter, and kept pummeling all game long, only giving up the fourth quarter by a single point as exhaustion set in. 93-69 win, holding the Lakers to 27.8% from the floor, 24.2% from 3 point range. And scoring 93 without Jayson Tatum. And without attempting a single free throw all night.
The scoring leader was of course Cam Reddish with 22 points, 4 rebounds, a steal, and a block. But it was much-maligned Moses Brown who was Player of the Game, bullying his way to 16 points, 19 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks in his outsized minutes. Just missing a triple-double for his full game was Coby White, who put up 8 points, 10 assists, and 9 rebounds - his fourth game with 10+ assists without Tyrese Maxey. The rest of the season? Just two. Clearly a Maxey-absent lineup allows the floor general's skills to flourish in playmaking.
Jalen Smith stormed off the bench for 16 points, 6 rebounds, and a block, and Kevin Huerter's 11 points was so shocking to everyone, including himself, that he bruised his shoulder banging into his teammates in celebration, becoming the latest injury and at least the third or fourth straight injured Pelican in as many games.
But let's talk about surprises.
Because we can't talk about surprises and New Orleans without talking about...
Scotty Pippen Jr. is making a strong challenge for the starting SG spot
Small sample sizes and narrow margins aside, Scotty Pippen Jr. has been a net positive +/- all three games he's started at SG, the only Pelican to attain that metric. His defensive work has been particularly lauded - his 0.88 PA/SF on the season is the best of any perimeter player, and superseded team-wide only by Mark Williams and Moses Brown.
The counting stats don't look great for the raw, slow-growth 9th overall selection, but under the hood, he's building a standout argument to make the starting spot his between Coby White and Jayson Tatum, allowing Cam Reddish to take on a 32 MPG 6th man role. Certainly he'll continue manning that spot with Tatum and Huerter out with injury and continue to stake out why he should be elevated for the rest of the year... or lose it and head back down to the second team until he develops more.
And on the negative side of Pelican-related surprises...
Tyrese Maxey is hating Houston so far
Let's roll the tape on Tyrese Maxey in a Rockets uniform.
Game 1: 3/10, 3/9: 11 points, 1 assist, 1 steal, 4 turnovers, -15 (L)
Game 2: 4/10, 3/6: 11 points, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 3 turnovers, -19 (L)
Game 3: 3/12, 3/10: 8 points, 1 assist, 1 block, 1 turnover, -8 (L)
Game 4: 3/11, 3/11: 9 points, 5 assists, -13 (L)
You can talk about how he had tough opponents - which he did - but despite moving to a more up-tempo offense, his FGA has gone from 12.9 to 10.75, his 11 points or lower rate has gone from 24.4% to 100%, and his assists/game have gone from 5.1 to 2.5.
In short, with the Pelicans, Maxey was a primary facilitator (he actually led the team in APG) and a volume second scorer next to Tatum - capable of bursting out with moderate to large scoring totals on a regular basis. With the Rockets, his early returns are a much less efficient third or fourth shot taker (His TS% and EFG% have both dropped)in the Rockets' frequent experiments.
"It's so crazy here, man. In Philly and N'Awlins, they were like be patient, probe the defense, make lots of passes, look for the best shot. Here, they're like, we want you firing at the net first reasonable chance you get. We want a fire in 7 seconds max per possession. And I'm just like wait, what? Like my first instinct is to wait and see what's there first. It's a whole different thing you know, and it's just gonna take me some time to get used to how different they do it here," said Maxey after the most recent loss, which put the Rockets 5.5 games behind the Pelicans, tied with the Oklahoma City for the 9th spot and home court advantage in the first play-in tournament undercard game.