Pelicans' Jonas Valanciunas: Plays 18 minutes Thursday

Valanciunas supplied six points (3-4 FG, 0-1 3Pt), five rebounds, one assist and one steal over 18 minutes during Thursday's 121-106 loss to the Magic.

His low playing time Thursday can be partially chalked up to the Pelicans being down big in the second half. That doesn't change the fact that Valanciunas has failed to reach 20 minutes in a game over his last seven appearances. Part of it has to due with Larry Nance getting big-man minutes off the bench, but New Orleans also tends to play small in the fourth quarter with Zion Williamson moving into the five spot. Valanciunas is capable of filling the stat sheet in limited minutes, as he's registered 31 double-doubles on the year, but he's averaged just 5.3 points and 6.7 rebounds over 17.6 minutes per game over his last seven games.