Energized and fine-tooled, a Washington Wizards 107-94 barrage Jan. 29 left the Pelicans dejected. The locker room chair seemed too small for the slouching colossus that occupied it. Shaking his head, a reflective 23-year-old Anthony Davis rattled off familiar phrases of execution and consistency, and lack thereof. Emotions fully collected, he admitted he felt mentally drained.
The Pelicans lost five of the next six games in its most lopsided loss of the season to the Utah Jazz Feb. 8. Another calming voice in forward Solomon Hill reiterated the constant theme.