Heading into the season, the Pelicans looked like a team on the rise. Ten games into the season, they look like a one-man show going nowhere fast.
Sunday’s 95-87 loss to the Knicks dropped New Orleans to 1-9 on the season. Outside of a big-time performance by Anthony Davis, there wasn’t much to like.
PHOTOS: NBA cheerleaders 2015 | MORE: Michael Jordan's final game-worn Bulls jersey sold
The gifted big man put up 36 points on 14 of 26 shooting, adding 11 rebounds and four blocks, in Madison Square Garden. The rest of the Pelicans starters combined to go just 8 of 23 from the field and 1 of 7 from the 3-point line.
Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry blamed too much individual play for his team’s inconsistent offensive performance.
“It's something that has to be stopped,” Gentry said, via NOLA.com. “I took an early time out and talked about that. Every time I thought we did move the basketball and got it from one side of the floor to the other we were pretty successful. For some reason we try to take it upon ourselves and it hasn't worked out for us yet."
Tweet of the night
Kevin Durant briefly punked reporters questioning when he'll be ready to return from his hamstring injury. The real answer is, he doesn't know.
Kinda weird moment when KD said he wouldn't be back until December, then admitted he was joking pic.twitter.com/PKnd3wFEUn
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 15, 2015Stud of the night
Nicholas Batum has been on fire for the Hornets lately, and that trend continued Sunday afternoon against his old team. Batum scored 33 points, his third-consecutive game of 24 or more points. He also added five rebounds and six assists for Charlotte as they beat the Blazers 106-94 for their third win in four games.
Dud of the night
Kevin Durant’s absence finally caught up with the Thunder. Oklahoma City had a really poor night offensively, falling 100-85 to Boston on the road.
The Thunder shot just 36.4 percent from the field as a team and just 24 percent from three-point range. Russell Westbrook exemplified his team's struggles. The All-Star guard scored 27 points, but shot just 5 for 20 from the field and 2 for 10 from 3-point range as OKC fell to 1-1 without Durant.
Looking ahead
Trail Blazers (4-7) at Spurs (7-2), 8:30 p.m. ET: LaMarcus Aldridge will get a chance to match up against his old team for the second time in less than a week.