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Anthony Davis dominates as Pelicans extend Pistons’ losing streak

By Brady Fredricksen

Mar 4, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) reacts after a basket as Detroit Pistons guard Jodie Meeks (20) and forward Greg Monroe (10) look on during the fourth quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Pistons 88-85. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 4, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) reacts after a basket as Detroit Pistons guard Jodie Meeks (20) and forward Greg Monroe (10) look on during the fourth quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans defeated the Pistons 88-85. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
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64. Final. 88. 69. 85

Considering Anthony Davis declared the rim a no-fly zone, I thought Jackson had a solid game. The Pistons got off to a hot start thanks to defense and transition offense. That’s where Jackson is at his best. But as the game progressed, the Pistons offense fell apart. I don’t think it’s fair to blame Jackson — just like I don’t think it’s fair to blame him for all of the losses post-deadline. His assist total was his third highest of the season, and his defense against a resurgent Tyreke Evans was pretty good.. PG. Pistons. REGGIE JACKSON. B-

D+. You’d think after getting so many easy dunks in the first quarter that Caldwell-Pope would be on his way to one of those irrational-confidence games. But no. He scored all eight points in the first 11 minutes of the game and did nothing else offensively. It was nice to see him shooting so well a week ago, but that streak has definitely ended.. SG. Pistons. KENTAVIOUS CALDWELL-POPE

C+. Prince is still a useful player at times, but in no way should be be starting and playing the majority of the minutes at small forward for a team with (dwindling) aspirations of making the playoffs. If he’s going to play that much, he’s got to take more 3-pointers. He’s taken four (made one) in five games. That’s adding to the Pistons’ spacing issues as much as anything.. SF. Pistons. TAYSHAUN PRINCE

PF. Pistons. GREG MONROE. C. What if I told you that athletic, long big men who can shoot with moderate range and block shots would be the bane of Greg Monroe’s existence? You’d probably say, sounds about right. Anthony Davis dominated Monroe (and others) on both ends. Monroe and Drummond finished with massive rebounding totals, but the Pelicans still grabbed 15 offensive rebounds. If the Pistons aren’t scoring well, their best defense is to hold teams to one shot. They didn’t do that today.

In all, Drummond really wasn’t bad against the Pelicans. His offensive game was wonky, but Davis’ presence does that. He had the rebounding issues as Monroe. He blocked six shots, though he didn’t defend well overall. Everybody in the frontcourt loses points for Alexis Ajinca scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, though.. C. Pistons. ANDRE DRUMMOND. B-

D. It shouldn’t be a shock to see Dinwiddie come crashing back to Earth after being so great last week. He’s a rookie. Move along.. PG. Pistons. SPENCER DINWIDDIE

Pistons. JODIE MEEKS. C. Meeks is slowly heating up as the season begins to wrap up. He’s shooting 47 percent from downtown in his past five games and he was the only Pistons wing who had any sort of success against the Pelicans. The 20 points were his highest since January (!!) <a href=. SG

F. Invisible. Butler is just old. Since he turned back the clock and scored 20 points against the Bulls, he’s made just 3-of-13 shots in five games. What’s the point of giving him minutes if he’s not even going to shoot? He brings nothing else to the court on a regular basis.. SF. Pistons. CARON BUTLER

Pistons. ANTHONY TOLLIVER. B. When the shots are falling, Tolliver is great. When they aren’t, he’s pretty bad. Davis beat him up and stole his lunch money in the third quarter.. PF

C. I don’t think Williams is all that good, but is 15 minutes of Williams better than 47 minutes between Prince and Butler? It has to be.. F. Pistons. SHAWNE WILLIAMS

Pistons. JOEL ANTHONY. F. Walked on to the court and was immediately beaten by Davis at the rim. Join the club.. C

I’ve seen a good amount of Anthony Davis this season, and I really think he’s reached the point of being better than everybody else. He’s gotten to the point where he goes out, does what he did last night, and you just shrug your shoulders. Davis had 29 of the Pelicans’ 54 points at one point in the third quarter. Tolliver was torched. Drummond was torched. Monroe was torched. The sad thing is they defended everybody (except Ajinca) reasonably well, but Davis was so good it didn’t even matter. That’s a star. The offense after the first quarter was hard to watch, too. In theory, s<span id=. Head Coach. Pistons. STAN VAN GUNDY. D+

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