Pelicans Bad In Loss To Mavs, Gentry “We Are Not A Good Team”

For the first 5 weeks of the season, the New Orleans Pelicans were down multiple players due to injury, knowing how difficult it is to win shorthanded.

Wednesday night, their opponent was down 4 starters as the Dallas Mavericks were without Dirk Nowitzki, Deron Williams, Zaza Pachulia and Wesley Matthews, who sat out for rest after playing major minutes in a double-overtime win the night before.

Rather than smell blood in the water, the Pelicans effort was perpetually weak, leading to a frustrating 100-91 loss on Wendesday night in New Orleans.

"We are not a good team," said New Orleans head coach Alvin Gentry. "I don't know how anyone here thinks we don't have to compete night in and night out."

Anthony Davis was solid, scoring 26 points and grabbing 12 boards, but the rest of the team struggled.

Most alarming is the poor effort. New Orleans has shown several times this season what they can potentially be when their energy and effort is evident.

Wednesday night they were playing on 4 days rest while the Mavs were coming off a double-overtime game the night before.

"We're at the bottom of our conference," said a visibly frustrated Gentry. "We're at the bottom of the league."

Gentry took plenty of blame, maintaining its his responsibility, apologizing for his team's performance.

"It's not fair to the fans, it's not fair to anybody for us to come out with that type of effort."

The Mavericks backups began pulling away midway through the third quarter, coming back from 8 down, taking a lead, and growing it to double-digits through a bulk of the 4th quarter.

New Orleans shot a season-low 37% from the floor, falling to 11-23 on the season.

Next up, the Pelicans host the Indiana Pacers Friday night. Tip-off from the Smoothie King Center is set for 7:00.