NBA Power Rankings: Here comes the trade deadline

The Pelicans slide without Cousins continued in a home game against the Kings, when they were dominated on the defensive glass in a 114-103 defeat. Kosta Koufous had 17 points and 17 rebounds, and Zach Randolph had 26 points and 12 rebounds, as the Pelicans gave up 14 offensive rebounds to the Kings. New Orleans only made nine 3-pointers in the game, attempting just 25, but couldn’t take advantage of their smaller starting lineup’s spacing against the Kings bigger lineups.

They were able to hop out of their funk against the Thunder, with Anthony Davis scoring 43 points to lead his team to a 114-100 win. The Pelicans defense was as good as they could ask for, limiting Oklahoma City’s Big Three to a poor shooting night. Westbrook went 7-for-21, Paul George went 4-for-16, and Carmelo Anthony went 6-for-17. It was a solid team effort, and a nice win for a team that was justifiable shaken in the previous games. Davis had 38 points on Saturday night, but they weren’t able to pick up a win in the town hosting Super Bowl LII, falling 118-107 to the Timberwolves.

Nikola Mirotic did have 18 points in his first game with his new team, having been acquired via trade from the Chicago Bulls earlier in the week for Omer Asik and a future first round pick.