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So, not a great start for Boogie and the Brow. 

The New Orleans Pelicans kicked off a new era in the Big Easy with a Large Difficulty against the Houston Rockets, losing 129-99 in the debut of DeMarcus Cousins alongside Anthony Davis. The Rockets shot 20-of-51 from 3-point range, had a 121 offensive rating and pretty much looked like the dominant team they’ve been all year. The Pelicans, meanwhile, were all sorts of bad, as you’d expect from their first game with a franchise-changing player like Cousins. 

So what happened? Here’s a look at Fire and Ice’s first-game. 

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New team, same result for DeMarcus Cousins.  USATSI

TAKEAWAYS

  1. The Pelicans had no idea what they were doing. New Orleans had 20 turnovers, leading to 25 Rockets points. They were like freshmen, wandering around on the first day of class trying to figure out where to go. You can’t just throw a player like Cousins into the mix, especially alongside another star big like Davis. It’s going to take time, not just for them to figure it out, but for the guards to. As a good indicator? Jrue Holiday had seven turnovers. He averages less than three per game. Holiday kept finding himself in unfamiliar territory and going into isolation plays, which Patrick Beverley ate him alive on. There’s just a lot for them to figure out, and they’ve had two practices to do so. 
  2. You could see some of the promise, still. The first possession, you see Cousins post, and Davis dive, and the defense doesn’t really know what to do with it, and it leads to an open shot that’s missed. (We’ll come back to that.)
  3. Same deal here, but with Cousins floating on the perimeter as Davis posts up. Cousins’ ability to stretch the floor is going to give defenses fits, provided they continue to work on things. 
  4. Unfortunately, if you don’t have to guard anyone else, it’s not really a problem. Cousins and Davis combined for 56 points, 23 rebounds, and six blocks. But the Pelicans shot 14-of-47 on unguarded jumpers in this game, and with Davis and Cousins on the floor, the Pelicans had a 76.6 offensive rating, which is about the same as you’d get if you or I kept hoisting half-court shots 100 times. 
  5. And the news only gets worse, as one of the key shooters they have, Omri Casspi who was acquired in the Cousins deal, suffered a broken thumb after the game. They simply do not have shooters, and that’s killing them. Solomon Hill’s inability to space the floor makes him a huge negative. Holiday and Tim Frazier went 0-for-10 from 3-point range. If you can’t take advantage of the attention drawn by the two bigs, it’s not going to matter how dominant they are. 
  6. Defensively, there are worlds to go. Defense is built on consistency, continuity and intensity. The first game after the All-Star break, with new personnel that fundamentally reshape your approach, against the Rockets, of all teams, was already a recipe for disaster. The Pelicans have been decent defensively this year, but with Cousins and Davis, both of whom have serious defensive issues, they have to find some extra answers short-handed. 
  7. So are these concerns minor or major? Well, in the long-term, minor. They have time to find solutions, build chemistry, find things that work, fix kinks. Short term? These problems won’t be solved overnight, and the Pelicans have only two months to get right before the playoffs begin. If they want to make it, they’re going to have to come up with bandaids on bullet holes all over, and figure it out quick. They face the Mavericks on Saturday, but with the NBA schedule the way it is, they won’t have much time to sit down, practice and figure out answers. Everything will have to be on the fly.