There were times Thursday when you could see just why the New Orleans Pelicans drafted Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen in the first round.
There were other times when you could tell they were rookies with just three days of practice under their belt.
The Pelicans lost their Summer League opener Thursday, falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 in Las Vegas in the debut for Fears and Queen.
Fears, selected out of Oklahoma with the No. 7 overall pick, finished with 14 points and two assists. He also had seven turnovers. His best play came on a pick and roll with center Yves Missi when Fears threw a lob for an alley-oop.
Queen, a former Maryland star drafted with the No. 13 pick, finished with 13 points and had 10 rebounds. He also had seven turnovers. Queen got off to a rough start, not scoring his first basket until less than four minutes in the third quarter. But then he got going to finish with a double-double. Queen’s day was highlighted by a behind-the-back assist to Hunter Dickinson.
"It shows that he’s a special player," said Pelicans' Summer League coach Corey Brewer. "He’s talented. The first half wasn’t going his way. I got on him at halftime and told him to just be yourself. These guys are young. Rookies. First NBA game. He bounced back great. That’s what you want to see."
Collectively, the Pelicans had 25 turnovers.
"If we don’t turn the ball over, we win by 10," Brewer said. "We turned the ball over and we couldn’t make a free throw. That’s two things that can kill you in a basketball game."
Fears and Queen led the Pelicans in minutes played. Both played exactly 26 minutes and 33 seconds. That was the plan for Brewer coming into the game.
“Those guys are going to get a ton of work,” Brewer said earlier in the week.“We want to see what we got.”
While the rookies were the main attraction, the Pelicans’ best games came from players who were on the team last season.
Lester Quinones led the Pelicans with 20 points and knocked down five of his eight 3-pointers.
Missi, the first-round draft pick from a year ago who went on to be named second team on the All-Rookie team, recorded 13 points and 13 rebounds.
"Yves looks like he’s in better shape," Brewer said this week."He looks like he's stronger. I think we are going to see a different Yves this year."
Missi shot just 5 of 14 from the floor. He went 3 of 9 from the free-throw line and the Pelicans made just 14 of 25 free throws.
Quinones and Queen combined to score the Pelicans' final 13 points of the third quarter.
The Timberwolves blocked 12 Pelicans shots.
Micah Peavy, the Pelicans’ second-round draft pick out of Georgetown, scored 11 points to go with seven rebounds. Antonio Reeves scored 10 points.
The Pelicans play the Los Angeles Lakers at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in their second Summer League game.