The Pelicans blew a huge halftime lead to the Warriors. Again. Three weeks ago they blew a 13 point lead to the Warriors, and in the first meeting they blew a 14 point lead. It's heartbreaking to watch, but this shows that the Pelicans can at least keep up with the Warriors for a time. Yes, every single time they've blown that lead, but this team has so many avenues to start keeping those leads. 

When the Pelicans traded for Boogie Cousins, people were saying they could challenge the Warriors because of their size. "They're zigging while everyone else is zagging" was a common phrase surrounding this team in the offseason. But their two dominant bigs aren't the only reason that they could be so successful against the Warriors this season. 

Passing Machine

The Pels are currently averaging 26.2 assists per game, behind only the Warriors and their absurd 30.9 per game. But they also average fewer turnovers than the Warriors (16.2 to 16.4). They've started to close the gap though. 

Since the start of November the Pels are averaging 27.1 assists to 15.8 turnovers while the Warriors are averaging 30.9 assists to 15.9 turnovers. It gets even closer after the return of Rondo (November 13), going up to 27.8 assists to 15.6 turnovers. 

What's happening in NOLA passing wise is incredible. Last season they were 16th in passes per game, 12th in assists per game, 20th in secondary assists, but only fifth in turnovers per game. Their offense was stagnant. It involved a ton of Anthony Davis isolation plays that eventually ended in one of the guards, who are bad ball handlers (E'twaun Moore, Jrue Holiday, etc.), having to take their defender off the dribble for a contested shot. But this season is totally different. 

The Pelicans are now 8th in passes per game, 2nd in assists per game, 4th in secondary assists per game, and now 24th in turnovers per game. They are now Spurs-like in terms of passing, while also having the ability to iso when the passing isn't working. 

Having a versatile offense is key against the Warriors. We saw last season that a bad defensive team with a stagnant, iso-heavy offense can't beat the Warriors. That's why the Cavs have tried to move towards more of the drive and kick style that Lebron has succeeded with in the past. It adds an element of versatility. That's exactly what this ball movement does for the Pels. They can swing the ball around the perimeter with guys running off screens on the three-point line and others cutting through the paint to find a gap in the defense. Then when the defense locks down and that stops working, you can just throw the ball to Anthony Davis or Demarcus Cousins, two of the best isolation players in the NBA, and have them dominate. 

Elite Shooting

Despite all you heard in the offseason about the Pelicans having 'no shooters' and their 'spacing woes', they are currently 10th in 3 point percentage (36.9%) and 12th in makes per game (11.0). The spacing was bad and the only player who was shooting well was E'twaun Moore at just over 40% for 1.5 makes per game. 

Post-Rondo though, they have been elite. A spectacular 39.9% from deep (5th in the league) on a strong 11.9 makes per game (8th in the NBA). This includes back to back games of 48%+ (15/30 against Utah then 15/31 against Portland).

The role players have been absolutely integral to the Pelicans success beyond the arc. Darius Miller (out of the league for a few years; German MVP last season) is shooting 51% on 2.5 makes per game since the start of November. E'twaun Moore is at 48% on 2 makes per game after a rough two-game start to the season. Dante Cunningham has brought it back around in the last month with 40% on 1 make per game. Jameer Nelson is at 38% for 1 make per game this season. 

But the real difference has been the starters. Jrue Holiday and Boogie Cousins had terrible starts to this season, but recently they are hitting 38% for a combined 5 threes per game since the return of Rajon Rondo. That is the real difference between Pre- and Post-Rondo.

The Jrue Holiday Factor

Jrue Holiday is averaging 17-4-5 on the season. But again, the season is split into Pre-Rondo and Post-Rondo.

Pre-Rondo Jrue was a mess. Every person who has watched the Pelicans play over the last two seasons understood that Jrue could not run this offense. He never really understood how to control the game. He couldn't change the pace, couldn't direct traffic, and really didn't create shots for others. But there were hints that he could be amazing off the ball. This was kind of already known from the 3-guard Montyball era when Tyreke Evans was running the offense back in 14-15, but nobody expected him to do what he is doing. 

Pre-Rondo Jrue averaged 14-5-6 on 46-21-83 splits with 3.1 turnovers per game. He scored in single digits three times in 15 games, and only scored over 15 four times. The team had an offensive rating of 100 with him on the floor. It wasn't pretty. 

Post-Rondo Jrue though? He's averaging 21-3-4 on 49-37-87 splits with 1.8 turnovers per game. In 12 games he has not scored in single digits and has scored 15+ eight times (24+ five times). He has single-handedly sparked runs in four games which lead to 15+ point leads. 

Oh, and his defense is still elite while playing like a star on offense. He has even locked down Steph a few times this season (9-25 shooting, 3-13 from 3 in the second meeting; 3-9 in the first half while guarded by Jrue in the third meeting). 

Potential Defensive Stalwart

Jrue can lock down Steph *and* Klay at any moment. He's just that versatile. But he isn't the only elite defender on this team. 

Obviously, Anthony Davis is one of the best defenders in the NBA. Inarguably top 4. He's in the Kawhi, Draymond, Gobert tier - a game changer on that end - but there are two other huge keys outside of their guard stopper Jrue and their anchor AD. 

A huge part of NBA defense is the system. Just look at Mike Brown in Cleveland (top 3 in defensive rating with Mo Williams, Anderson Varejao, and Delonte West starting a majority of the games). Look at what Ron Adams has been able to do in Golden State (they have great defenders but that isn't a team that would be an all-time great defense without his system in place). And especially look at what Darren Erman did in Boston and now New Orleans. 

I talk about it extensively in this article, but basically, Darren Erman took an atrocious defensive team with Isaiah Thomas and no rim protector and turned them into a defensive machine that was one of the top in the league while he was there. Then he came to New Orleans and turned it all around just the same. 

But the potential on that end for an Erman system is so much greater in New Orleans because there are so many great defensive players, while Boston became a great defensive team without *any* truly great defenders. 

Just last season Darren Erman's system took the Pelicans into the top 10 in defensive rating. They have slipped this season, but missing their best wing defender in Solomon Hill has had a huge impact on that. Not having a guy to key in on the best wing scorer for the other side hurts your perimeter defense quite a bit, since it leaves the other players scrambling to catch up. 

If the Pelicans can slide back into that top 10, near-elite defensive mold while maintaining their already elite offense, they can immediately be a true contender. 

Elite Backcourt

It isn't just Jrue who is playing out of his mind right now. Rajon Rondo, while not still the elite player he was in the past, has had an enormous impact on the Pelicans success already this season. We've talked about Pre-Rondo and Post-Rondo already, and those are quite serious markings for the Pelicans season as a whole. 

When Rondo has played 25+ minutes this year, he is averaging 8-4-9 on 49-32-100 (2-2 from the free throw line). In December he's really started to get hot, averaging 12-5-11 on 61-47-100. Those are prime Rondo counting stats, but the advanced stats say he has been even better than prime Rondo (at least on the offensive end). 

With only a 15.1 Usage% in December, Rondo is putting up his best season since the Boston years while having the ball in his hands for a career-low amount of time (previous low was 16.5 in his rookie season). His 70.4 TS% and 50.4 AST% (with only 17.7 TOV%) has contributed to the Pelicans having an offensive rating of 148 with him on the floor. 

The way Rondo impacts his teammates is incredible. He's only been with the team for a couple of months and he already has an incredible amount of chemistry with everyone from role players to superstars. He makes everyone better, and it really shows. 

Insane Run Ability

With Jrue Holiday sparking runs, the bench hitting threes at an insane rate, and two superstars who can rattle off 10-15 straight by themselves, the Pelicans have one of the deadliest attributes in the NBA: They have the ability to break games wide open at a moment's notice. 

The Pels have shown this in the three games against the Warriors alone by breaking open 14+ point leads in each of them. In the first two games the Pelicans blew it up in the first quarter, taking a 13 point advantage at the end of the quarter with runs led by Jrue and AD. But they really showed it off in the third game when they dominated the first and second quarter by rattling off 14 straight and going on a 23-6 run to end the first half. 

This is really invaluable against a team like the Warriors since they are so prone to doing the exact same thing every single game. The ability to go blow for blow, matching their huge runs, is something that could definitely win a playoff series against them since that is the Warriors' biggest advantage against every other team. Only a couple of teams in the league can consistently go on huge runs like that, and the Pelicans are one of them. 

Room for Improvement

All things considered, the Pelicans are playing very well right now. They are over .500 (barely), but they still have so many things that could make them an elite team instead of just a middle of the road team who might win a round in the playoffs.

Their starting Small Forward, Solomon Hill, is still out. This is probably the biggest thing holding them back right now. Starting E'twaun Moore at small forward is not ideal. His shooting in invaluable, but he can't guard shooting guards, much less small forwards. Also, when Solomon Hill is on the floor for the Pelicans, they are an elite defensive team (as already discussed).

Their defense is still no better than average which is a huge problem right now. They are having to go blow for blow with every team they play instead of blowing teams out because they cannot stop any other team's offense as it stands. 

Their chemistry is still not great with all the new guys in the lineup. Rondo is playing extremely well despite being new, but there are still a lot of careless turnovers and a lot of ball stopping with all the new guys (including Jameer Nelson, Tony Allen, and even Boogie) because they don't really know how their teammates want the ball quite yet. 

Getting everyone more familiar with the systems, and especially getting healthy, will improve this Pelicans team tremendously. 

Conclusion

The Pelicans have the potential to be great right now, but they're one move away from becoming a true contender. Talks around the league have been that the Pelicans are waiting until the deadline for some unexpected teams to blow it up so they can pick up their scraps for cheap. And what potential teams might be looking at blowing it up?

Of course, there are obvious ones. You could wait for Memphis to finally decide it's time, and maybe steal Mike Conley from under their noses with a pick or two plus our young guys (Cheick Diallo and Frank Jackson). Charlotte with their inconsistent woes might be looking at dumping salary, maybe with Batum? LA Clippers could be looking to get rid of Gallinari or Lou Williams. 

But really what you should be looking out for are teams that are looking decent now, but with one injury could fall further into the lottery and look to get rid of some good players on big salaries (Miami and Dragic; Orlando and Fournier). 

Even without a big trade though, the Pelicans still have the ability to keep up with the Warriors. That is exactly what this team was built to do.