It was just one week ago when the New Orleans Pelicans opened the preseason at home against the Orlando Magic. Tonight, the Pels close their four-game slate in the Magic Kingdom looking for some progress and a win before the regular season starts on Oct. 25 in Memphis against the Grizzlies.
With this being the final preseason game for New Orleans, head coach Willie Green may allow his starters to play a bit more than the 20 or so minutes they’ve averaged in the previous three contests.
| Category | Team Leader |
| Scoring | Jordan Hawkins – 13.0 |
| Rebounding | Jonas Valanciunas – 6.7 |
| Assists | Zion Williamson – 4.0 |
| Steals | Naji Marshall – 2.3 |
| Blocks | CJ McCollum – 1.3 |
| FG% | Dereon Seabron/Trey Jemison – 60.0% |
| 3P% | EJ Liddell/Herbert Jones/Kaiser Gates – 50.0% |
| +/- | Dereon Seabron – 3.7 |
Green had not yet fully committed to a game plan when he spoke to the media following the team’s practice on Monday.
“I imagine the (starters) will play,” said Green. “We’ll keep them to limited minutes. They won’t get 30 minutes or anything like that.”
There was some concern that guard/forward Herbert Jones would not be available after slightly spraining his neck during Saturday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks. However, Jones was a full participant in practice on Monday and should be ready to go.
Larry Nance Jr. (ankle), Cody Zeller (back), and Jose Alvarado (ankle) were still limited in their activities. With Naji Marshall sidelined with a bone bruise to his right knee, the Pelicans will be without four of their top reserves.
Picking Up The Defense
The Pelicans have struggled in a number of areas throughout the preseason, and Green addressed a few of those issues on Monday. In particular he discussed the amount of easy points the Pelicans have given up in transition and at the rim.
New Orleans has allowed 16.7 second chance points, 24.3 fast break points, 26.7 points off of turnovers, and 53.3 points per game in the paint thus far, ranking either last or next to last among NBA teams during the preaseason.
Opponents are shooting a robust 47.6% from the floor against New Orleans, even though the Pelicans are holding teams to 29.9% shooting from three-point range. Their poor defense has been the cause.
After three games the Pelicans have been outscored by an average of 18.3 points per game, more than twice as many as the next worst team, the Sacramento Kings (-9.0).
“We’ve got to toughen up,” he added. “Our offense is hurting us a bit because of the turnovers. (Opponents) are going in transition, because a lot of those are live-ball turnovers…We have to be in the right spots and make sure our rotations are clean. But we’ll get there. It’s going to take a little time, but that’s what preseason games are for, to knoc, off some of the rust.”
Finding a Rhythm on Offense
Some of that rust is on the offense as well. The Pelicans rank dead last among NBA teams in offensive rating (94.9) and net rating (-15.8) during the preseason.
New Orleans also sits in the bottom five in tunover percentage, effective field goal percentage, and true shooting percentage.
But the Pelicans are playing with pace, ranking 10th among 34 teams at 105.17. That is a significant uptick from thier 99.58 mark from last season. Unfortunately, the pace is creating turnovers that lead to easy points on the other end.
The starting unit, which has already played nearly half as many games together during the preseason as it did all last year, needs to put together one solid performance to generate some confidence heading into the regular season.
Finding Zion
One place to start is by getting the ball into the hands of Zion Williamson.
Williamson has 22 field goal attempts in three games, and is averaging only 10.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in 21 minutes per game. Zion is still working himself into game shape, but needs actual touches in game to help speed up his readjustment to NBA basketball.
Handling Size
In their first matchup, the Magic were able to exploit the Pelicans’ relative lack of height inside. As were the Rockets. As were the Hawks.
New Orleans only has two players available tonight taller than 6-9 (Valanciunas, Jemison). Orlando has six.
While the Pelicans may be embracing speed and quickness, they still have to box out and rebound. Tonight will be another strong test of their willingness to do the dirty work.
Just how big is the fight in the dog that is the New Orleans Pelicans?
Time to find out.
Who: New Orleans Pelicans (0-3) at Orlando Magic (2-0)
When: October 17, 6:00 PM CT
Where to watch: Pelicans.com
Where to listen: WRNO 99.5
READ MORE
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- Pelicans Drop to 0-3 in Preseason After Losing Battle of the Birds with Hawks
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- Pelicans Begin 5th Preseason of the Zion Era with Matchup Versus Magic
- Making a Difference: How Larry Nance Jr. Elevates the Pelicans’ Second Unit
- New Orleans Pelicans Better Positioned to Handle Adversity
- EJ Liddell’s Defensive Prowess: How He Could Augment the Pelicans’ Defense
- Can Jordan Hawkins Be A Real Shooting Option Off the Bench in 2023-24?
- How James Borrego Could Boost Pelicans’ Offense
This is not looking good
It’s been rough to say the least.