In a season peppered with misfortune and untimely injuries, the Pelicans inserted the final bookend with wins over two top playoff contenders.

A lot of questions can be raised at the end of this season. The one question you can't ask is if their hearts were in it. Missing six of their seven top scorers, the Pelicans were able to topple the Thunder and Rockets in consecutive games to finish strong.

Tyreke Evans put together a 25 point, 10 assist double-double only two night after lighting up the Thunder for 41 points, all while nursing a bone bruise in his knee. Austin Rivers continued his upward trend to finish the season by stuffing the stat sheet with 18 points to go along with eight assists, five rebounds and three steals.

The Rockets were resting some of their stars in preparation for the NBA playoffs, but the banged up Pelicans were able to best them in a tightly contested match by the final score of 105-100.

Jeff Whithey put in a solid performance for General Manager Dell Demps to think about by swatting five shots in the game to go along with three more from Alexis Ajinca. Add in 15 points from Anthony Morrow, and you get a bright ending to a season marred with unfortunate events.

With the youngest roster in the NBA, the optimism is through the roof within the Pelicans organization for the future. The key will be health. The offseason starts nows, so Anthony Davis and the rest of the flock will need to hit the training room in order to field the roster we all so badly desired this season.

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