NBA scores 2016: The Pelicans only have pride left to play for

For a brief, fleeting moment in late January, the New Orleans Pelicans had life -- or, at least, some semblance of it. They finished the month winning seven of their last nine games and were only three games out of the No. 8 playoff seed thanks to an unusually weak Western Conference. Could they actually dig out of that 1-11 start?

On Thursday, on the final day before the NBA All-Star break, the Pelicans lost 121-95 to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The loss was their fifth in seven February games, sinking New Orleans to a 20-33 record. It was also a firm reminder that the Pelicans won't be a playoff team, shouldn't be a playoff team and -- worst of all -- may still be a long ways off from being one.

Thursday was a bad day for the Pelicans even before the 26-point loss to the Thunder, though. Tyreke Evans had already been in and out -- mostly out -- of the rotation all season, and the Pelicans confirmed that Evans would undergo a third surgery on his right knee, one that would cost him the rest of the year. On the bench he joined Eric Gordon, who has been out since mid-January with a hand injury.

For New Orleans, this is just a continuation of the plague of injuries that has affected them, really, for three straight seasons. The Pelicans keep banking on getting Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Gordon and Evans all playing together and turning the roster into a clear playoff team. Once again, injuries have prevented that from actually happening.

The Pelicans have Holiday, too, who has sat a few back-to-backs due to a minutes restriction, but otherwise has stayed healthy this year. He scored 23 points on 11-of-20 shooting on Friday, adding four rebounds, six assists and five steals. First-year head coach Alvin Gentry continues to bring Holiday off the bench, though, and that has limited the number of minutes he shares the floor with Davis, even though that pairing plays so well together.

In a 99-92 win against the Washington Wizards, Middleton went off, scoring 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting with six rebounds, nine assists and five steals in 40 minutes for the Milwaukee Bucks. Although five straight points from Giannis Antetokounmpo down the stretch of the fourth quarter is what helped the Bucks seal the game, Middleton was the driving force in the win.

Middleton's not scoring as efficiently as he was to begin the season, but he's doing more of it. He actually might be the best playmaker on the team -- Michael Carter-Williams gets more chances, but overall has had a subpar season, getting benched recently in favor of O.J. Mayo, who is very clearly not a point guard. In January, Middleton recorded five or more assists in 10 of the 15 games, and his nine dimes on Thursday tied his season high. He's now averaging over four per game on the season.