Pelicans Fall To Bulls In Hard Fought Battle

Playing on the road in the second game of a back to back, the New Orleans Pelicans played with energy, focus, and defense, but they couldn't overcome the Chicago Bulls 4th quarter run, falling by the score of 98-94.

Pelicans defense was solid for 3 quarters, but backup guard Aaron Brooks scored 15 of his 17 points in the 4th, including two clutch 3 pointers, helping the Bulls outscore the Pels by 10 in the final frame.

"We can't give up two 3 pointers to Brooks in that situation. We were too far off," said New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry. "I thought we competed at the level that we need to, but we just got to to make plays when we need to."

Playing without Ryan Anderson (flu like symptoms) and Jrue Holiday (leg, sitting out second game of back to back), the Pelicans leaned on Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon and Anthony Davis.

Evans and Davis led all scorers with 22, while Gordon added 14.

Despite Davis' double-double stat line (22 points, 13 rebounds), he struggled from the field (8-24), hitting the majority of his shots from close range.

Alonzo Gee started for New Orleans at small forward, playing great defense on Bulls All-Star Jimmy Butler, holding him to 4-16 from the field.

Energy and effort were evident, but in the end, it wasn't enough.

"My take on it is if we play like that, we'll win more often than we lose," added Gentry. "If we play at this level we can be successful...we just (have to) execute at the technical level."

New Orleans (6-17) will look to improve their technicalities this Monday in Portland for a showdown with the Trail Blazers (10-14). Tip-off is set for 9:00.