SALT LAKE CITY – The New Orleans Pelicans will close out their quick three-game road trip on Monday night with the back end of a double-header with the Utah Jazz. The Pels come into tonight’s game having won five of their last seven, but losers of four in a row to the Jazz.
The Pelicans fell to Utah, 100-105, on Saturday night in a game that they played without Zion Williamson. New Orleans is 0-3 when Williamson sits out the second game of a back-to-back this season.
The Pelicans have a chance to pick up some steam this week, as they face three teams below-.500 on their four-game slate, starting with tonight’s game.
New Orleans needs to get back to the defensive principles that helped them start winning games after they allowed Utah to outscore them 37-23 in the fourth quarter (62-47 in the second half), even without its top two scorers.
Dominating points in the paint will obviously be an emphasis, especially with Williamson returning to the lineup. The Pelicans outscored the Jazz by only two points inside on Saturday.
Expect this game to be nothing like the previous matchup, as two completely different squads will take the court. The key for the Pelicans will be having their two best players, Williamson and Ingram, be their two best players. When that happens and the rest of the Pelicans’ reserves play their roles, the Pels are hard to beat.
Most Recent Starting Lineups
| New Orleans Pelicans | Utah Jazz |
| G – Dyson Daniels (8.2 pts, 5.2 reb, 3.8 ast) | G – Kris Dunn (3.6 pts, 1.8 reb) |
| G – Herbert Jones (11.6 pts, 4.1 reb, 1.9 stl, 1.5 blk) | G – Keyonte George (9.4 pts, 2.9 reb) |
| F – Brandon Ingram (24.6 pts, 5.3 reb, 5.1 ast) | F – Simone Fontecchio (5.8 pts, 1.9 reb) |
| F – Zion Williamson (23.2 pts, 5.9 reb, 4.6 ast) | F – John Collins (14.6 pts, 8.8 reb) |
| C – Jonas Valanciunas (13.1 pts, 8.7 reb, 1.4 blk) | C – Omer Yurtseven (4.3 pts, 3.0 reb) |
Injuries
New Orleans Pelicans: CJ McCollum (right lung), Trey Murphy III (left knee partial meniscectomy), and Matt Ryan (calf) are OUT
Utah Jazz: Jordan Clarkson (illness) and Lauri Markkanen (hamstring) are QUESTIONABLE
Who: New Orleans Pelicans (9-8) vs Utah Jazz (5-11)
Series history: Jazz lead all-time series 47-26, have won last four in a row
Nov. 25: Jazz def. Pelicans 105-100
Nov. 27: @Utah
Dec. 28: New Orleans
Jan. 23: New Orleans
Where: Delta Center
When: November 27, 8:00 PM CT
Where to watch: Bally Sports New Orleans
Where to listen: WRNO 99.5
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- Brandon Ingram: Can He Elevate From All-Star to All-NBA?
- Matt Ryan: Great Story of Perseverance Now Also Pelicans’ 3-point Back-up Plan
- A Lot On Herb: Jones Remains Keystone of Pelicans Defense
- New Orleans Pelicans Better Positioned to Handle Adversity
- How James Borrego Could Boost Pelicans’ Offense
Disgusting closeout by Pels and Willie Green Saturday night. Time to make amends.
So far, BI is playing one of his “Wish I was anywhere but here” games. No physicality, no toughness
Immature team; immature head coach; not close to being ready for prime time.
Zion had to take the T because Willie won’t protect his players
We let Jax Hayes walk for this garbage?
It’s a shame when you have players that only want to play offensively and not defensively.
It’s a make shots league..Can’t only make 7 three pointers in a game and win very many games.