Pelicans Poor Performance In Washington Leads To Loss

New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry singled out transition defense as the number one need for his team on Tuesday night before battling the up tempo Wizards in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately for Gentry, his team gave up 18 points in transition in the first half alone, losing handily to the Wizards by the score of 109-89.

"This team (Wizards) is very good at going on runs. We tried to stop the runs and stop the bleeding and find a way to get an easy basket," said Gentry. "We were never ever to get the game back under control."

Despite the first half struggles, the Pelicans only trailed by 3 at the half. However, the second half is one the club will want to forget.

"In the third quarter, we just let the game get away," explained Gentry. "A couple of turnovers here and there, then they hit a couple of three point shots. We never really got in a rhythm. Part of that is us and part of it is they did a good job defensively."

Two days after scoring 59 points in a win over the Detroit Pistons, New Orleans star Anthony Davis only attempted 9 shots, finishing with 9 points and 20 rebounds.

His teammates had trouble finding him in the paint. In addition, they never consistently hit outside shots. As a result, the space was never created for Davis to get going.

"They did a great job on him," noted Gentry. "A guy gets 59 (points), I guarantee you they'll game plan for him the next game....they had a guy play behind him and in front of him the entire game."

Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday (20 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds) and forward Ryan Anderson (16 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals) were the only positives for New Orleans on a night full of negatives.

Next up, a Thursday home matchup with the third place team in the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder. Tip-off is set for 7:00.