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Andrew LopezESPN
NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy joined his team after a 135-105 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night and called his defensive performance “embarrassing.” .
“Look, I understand it’s up to me and what we put on the defensive is embarrassing, honestly,” Van Gundy said. “We all have to take charge. Many are me, and many are our players, and they have to take some ownership. We haven’t competed tonight, and that’s the conclusion.
“We didn’t compete. We didn’t help each other. We didn’t play together at either end of the floor. A very embarrassing night for us tonight.”
The Pelicans looked like a team with a mission to make a playoff during the first eight minutes of the game, jumping to a 16-point lead in the first quarter. They beat 125-79 in the final 40 minutes of the match.
According to ESPN Stats & Information research, the Timberwolves became only the second team in the last 25 seasons to win a game by at least 30 points after coming back at least 15, joining the Chicago Bulls, who got it. against the new Jersey Nets on December 23, 1996.
Minnesota also became the third team to win a game by at least 30 points after entering the contest with a win percentage of less than 0.200 30 games this season, according to Elias Sports Bureau data. The last team to achieve this was the Cleveland Cavaliers in January 1971.
Van Gundy called it the worst offensive game the Pelicans have ever played, but blamed his defense, which ranked second in the league in defensive standings, for the loss.
“We didn’t throw the ball well and honestly we’re so bad on defense that we can’t have a bad offensive night,” Van Gundy said. “We can’t even have a mediocre night. If we have a bad offensive night, we’ll be crushed like we did tonight.”
The Pelicans shot 43.0% from the field of play and went from 6 to 32 from a distance of 3 points. Nor were they helped on the free throw line, where they were 13 of 24.
It was a free night for Timberwolves center-forward Karl-Anthony Towns (16 points, 7 rebounds, 7-of-19 shooting and 2 of 10 3-pointers), but great performances from Anthony Edwards (27 points ), Jaylen Nowell (28 points, 11 of 13 shot, 6 of 7 depth) and Jaden McDaniels (20 points, 8 of 9 shot, 4 of 5 depth) helped drive the win.
It was Timberwolves coach Chris Finch’s first win in six games since receiving his first NBA coaching job last month.
“[The Timberwolves] he played well and was inspired to play. Looks like we didn’t care, “Van Gundy said.” We got what we deserved. When I say that, again, I’m not putting everything to the players. I’m a big part of them too, but I don’t absolve them. It’s all of us. “
Van Gundy said he didn’t know why his team didn’t have the struggle and energy he showed before the break, even at a loss. But he indicated it started Wednesday when the team returned from the All-Star break.
“We didn’t have energy in practice yesterday either,” Van Gundy said. “It was one of the worst practices I’ve been a part of in my career. I don’t know. Sometimes days off make you lazy. Obviously it helped them and it didn’t help us. It was a poor performance. We’ll see if we can play much better tomorrow night. “
Pelicans striker Brandon Ingram said the team was getting a bit of a run back after the break, but at 15-22, he knows the Pelicans don’t have much time left if they want to make a playoff.
“There are only 35 games left and we want to be in the playoffs, so we have it [to have] the urgency to find out, ”Ingram said.