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Jeremiah Fears Giving Pelicans Fans Hope Amid Embarrassing Losing Streak

The New Orleans Pelicans are in the midst of another losing streak, but Jeremiah Fears has been shining brighter than ever.
Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Just when the New Orleans Pelicans were looking like a real NBA team since the All-Star break, they have gone back to their old ways over the last two weeks. They have let go of the rope, resulting in seven straight losses. The most embarrassing of those came on Friday night against the Sacramento Kings. Despite the Kings having more players on their injury report than on their active roster and no incentive to win the game, the Pelicans allowed a big fourth-quarter comeback.

While this has understandably frustrated the already angry Pelicans fanbase, Jeremiah Fears continues to shine. The rookie point guard has been playing the best basketball of his young NBA career during the Pelicans' losing streak.

Only a day after he earned James Borrego's praise with his two-way performance against the Blazers, Fears took things to another level last night. The 19-year-old had 28 points, eight rebounds, and six assists on 10/19 shooting from the field and 5/11 from downtown. Borrego rewarded him with a career-high 37 minutes off the bench.

Jeremiah Fears Is the Silver Lining in Pelicans' Latest Losing Streak

This upward trend has been brewing for the past two weeks. Over his last six games, Fears is averaging 17.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game. Most importantly, however, his turnovers have gone down despite his minutes increasing, and his efficiency has skyrocketed. Fears turned the ball over only 1.7 times a game in this span, while hitting 40.6% of his attempts from downtown.

The biggest question mark for Fears when he came into the league was his outside shooting. These concerns weren't necessarily alleviated early in the season, but Fears has come into his own lately. Since March, the talented point guard has been making 41.9% of his threes on 4.4 attempts per game. He seems comfortable taking them off the dribble or off the catch, making him able to play on or off the ball.

Fears has also embraced his role off the bench, demonstrating an impressive level of maturity from a very young player. He was moved to the bench after starting in 45 games early in the season. This lit a fire under him, and Fears responded with more effort and winning plays.

This is the type of improvement fans want to see from a prospect. Slowly but surely, Fears managed to cut down his turnovers, improve his efficiency, and be a more respectable defender. His ball-handling and ability to get to the basket are undeniable. Fears just needed to showcase the potential to shoot and defend. He has been doing exactly that in recent weeks, and that is one of the biggest wins for Pelicans fans ahead of the offseason.

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Published
Cem Yolbulan
CEM YOLBULAN

Cem has worked as an Associate Editor for FanSided's Regional Betting Network sites for two years and continues to be a contributor, producing NBA and NFL content. He has also previously written soccer content for Sports Illustrated. He has extensive prior experience covering the NBA for various Fansided sites. Cem has been living in the Washington, DC area for over 15 years since moving to the United States from Istanbul, Turkey. On any given day, he can be found watching soccer or basketball on his couch with his many cats and dogs.

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