Lakers-Pelicans Preview
For more than half of the season, it was looking like there would be very few bad days for opponents to have the Kobe Bryant farewell tour come to town.
The 37-year-old might be finally throwing that into question with the Los Angeles Lakers embarking on a four-game road trip beginning Thursday night in New Orleans.
With the Lakers (10-41) facing the longest losing streak in a storied franchise history, Bryant scored a season-high 38 points, including 14 of the team's final 18 to help Los Angeles hold on for Tuesday's 119-115 home win over Minnesota. Bryant was 10 of 21 from the floor and hit 7 of 11 from 3-point range and is averaging 30.5 points while hitting 11 of 19 from beyond the arc in two games back after missing two of three with shoulder soreness.
"I appreciate the fact that he's out there competing like he has for 20 years," said coach Byron Scott, whose team had lost 10 straight. "His body can't do it like he used to, but his mind is still as sharp as a tack. He still has that will, and I marvel at that."
The Lakers have dropped five straight on the road, though they ended a five-game skid versus the Pelicans with a 95-91 home win on Jan. 12. That was their last victory before Tuesday, and while the offensive performances leading up to the win over Minnesota weren't inspiring, difficulties at the other end might be more to blame.
Dating to the 116-98 loss in Golden State that started the losing streak, the Lakers have allowed opponents an average of 109.5 points on 48.5 percent shooting while their offensive numbers haven't been much of a departure from their season.
Bryant's even had some efficient support from parts of the backcourt lately. Jordan Clarkson scored 16 against the Timberwolves and has shot 56.5 percent in the last two games, while D'Angelo Russell had 18 and is at 52.9 percent in his past two.
The defensive issues could be problematic against a New Orleans team that had been clicking offensively prior to consecutive losses. Over the preceding 7-2 span, the Pelicans (18-30) had averaged 110.2 points while shooting 47.1 percent and 44.1 from long range with an average of 11.1 makes per game.
After Wednesday's 110-97 loss in San Antonio, they've dipped to 96.0 and 43.3 percent while hitting 28.9 from outside in the two defeats. Their 19 turnovers were quite a departure from the 10.9 they'd averaged over the previous 10 games.
"I thought we did a lot of things right, but there were some things we needed to cut back on. One of them was turnovers," Jrue Holiday said. "We had 19, which you can't have. That's not really us - for the last month or so, we've cut that down to seven or eight (in many games)."
The Lakers' win in last month's meeting came with three-time All-Star Anthony Davis sidelined, and the power forward averaged 25.0 points on 66.3 percent with 9.6 rebounds on New Orleans' preceding five-game winning streak over Los Angeles.
This time around, the Pelicans could be without Tyreke Evans, who has missed the past four games with a knee injury in addition to the absence of Eric Gordon (broken finger). Bryce Dejean-Jones has started the last four along with Norris Cole, but much of Evans' offense has been deferred to Holiday. The guard has averaged 21.4 points in the last five games despite a 1-for-14 effort in Monday's loss to Memphis.