Pelicans’ offense falters late once again as they drop third straight, lose Ball bowl to Hornets

At the end of the third quarter, it was younger brother versus older brother. 

LaMelo Ball, the No. 3 pick in November’s draft, dribbled the basketball on the left wing and sized up Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, LaMelo stepped back and sunk a 3-pointer. The shot cut New Orleans’ lead to five.

On Friday, the Pelicans raced out to an early double-digit lead but squandered it once again. They lost to the Charlotte Hornets 118-110 on Friday at Smoothie King Center.

The loss sunk New Orleans to 1-3 on its four-game homestand. Overall, the Pelicans are 4-5 after dropping three straight games. Now, a brutal seven-game road trip looms.

The Pelicans hit seven 3-pointers in the first quarter. They came out firing after connecting on only four 3s in their loss to the Thunder on Wednesday.

In total, they hit 15-pointers, but they also committed 19 turnovers. Those giveaways helped the Hornets (4-5) hang around.

Charlotte caught fire in the third quarter, when it hit 9 of 14 3s.

The youngest Ball brother outplayed the oldest Ball brother for the most part in what was their first NBA game against each other. Before the game, LaMelo thought back to their backyard matchups in Chino Hills, California.

“That’s probably the most competitive basketball I’ve been in — in the backyard, back there fighting, scrapping, falling on concrete, playing hella hard,” LaMelo said. “Parents were getting scared when their kids go back there. It was a whole lot. Just something you had to witness, for real.”

The Pelicans led by as many as 18 points, but with 3:43 remaining, Charlotte seized control when it rebounded Brandon Ingram’s missed 3 and advanced the ball to Gordon Hayward, who feathered in a triple. That shot increased the Hornets’ lead to four.

In the past five years, Lonzo and LaMelo Ball’s paths have converged and diverged wildly.

Charlotte outscored New Orleans 36-23 in the fourth quarter. New Orleans has struggled to generate clean looks consistently late in games, which came back to bite it once again.

Zion Williamson scored 26 points and Ingram had 17, but it wasn’t enough. Outside of those two, the Pelicans have had trouble creating offense, and they haven’t buckled down on defense the way Stan Van Gundy has wanted.

Their inability to do those things caused them to drop below .500. They are about to be on the road for two weeks. If they can’t find some answers quickly, things could get even uglier soon.