The New Orleans Pelicans fall to 4-12 on the season after another blowout road loss, 128-100, this time to the Cleveland Cavaliers. On Wednesday, the Pelicans played without seven of their top eight scorers against a Cavs team with the best record in the NBA. The team announced earlier in the day that Brandon Ingram and Trey Murphy III would miss the contest after playing in Tuesday night’s game versus the Dallas Mavericks.
Despite the disappointing loss, Pelicans head coach Willie Green praised his rookie second-round pick, Antonio Reeves, who had a breakout game.
“It’s pretty awesome to see him step on the floor and play hard, and play with confidence,” Green told reporters postgame.
Reeves scored a career-high 34 points on 14/25 from the field. He became the fourth rookie in the league to score at least 30 points this season and the seventh player in franchise history to score 30.
The former Kentucky standout was thrust into playing time because of the team’s many injuries. Earlier in the month, the Pelicans sent the 6-foot-4 guard to Birmingham for a stint with the G League Squadron but recalled him after Jose Alvarado and Jordan Hawkins were injured. On the season, Reeves averaged 2.9 points on 37.5% shooting from the field before Wednesday night.
New Orleans is second-to-last in the Western Conference to start the season. That is a far cry from the 49 wins the franchise won last season, which is the second most in team history. New Orleans hopes to get healthy soon to salvage the season early enough to turn things around. The Pelicans host Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors Friday night in the Smoothie King Center.
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