NEW ORLEANS – There New Orleans Pelicans enter Tuesday night’s matchup with the Dallas Mavericks with a number of problems.
The team is injured. Just as Naji Marshall returns the to lineup, Larry Nance Jr. is added to the list of the wounded with fractured ribs.
However, what hurts even more is the regression by the Pelicans in a number of areas. While they’ve been trying to establish a new identity this season, the Pels seem to be completely off their flight pattern.
Last season New Orleans had the sixth-best defense in the NBA, this season it is the eighth-worst. Offensively, the Pelicans are two steps from the basement.
The franchise’s centerpieces, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, are posting some of the lowest numbers of their careers, and look out of sync individually and as a tandem. Neither has looked or acted the part of leader, creating a greater void of accountability on the court with the absences of CJ McCollum and Nance.
The Pelicans are also in the midst of a five-game losing streak, including two straight at the Smoothie King Center, where they are 2-3 overall.
They’ve had bad first quarters, sluggish second quarters, abysmal third quarters, and insufficient fourth quarters on their way to being outscored by an average of 16.7 points in their losses.
They get bullied on the boards, surrender second chance points in bunches, and they haven’t played with a sense of purpose or with any consistent energy since opening night.
The postgame press conferences over the past week have been dour and without answers from the players or head coach Willie Green.
And finally, they are 0-1 in group play in the NBA’s new In-Season Tournament. A loss tonight would effectively eliminate the Pelicans from contention for the inaugural NBA Cup.
The Pelicans dropped their opener to the Houston Rockets last Friday, meaning that in order for them to advance to the quarterfinal round is to beat the Mavericks tonight, the Nuggets on Friday, and the Los Angeles Clippers on Nov. 24.
The Pelicans are a collective 0-3 against that group so far.
Yes, the season is only 10 games old. However, the Western Conference is too deep and teams are too good for the Pelicans to continue to give away games as they have. The NBA isn’t waiting for the Pels to figure it out.
How much longer will the fans?
Keys to Victory
- Just win. It doesn’t matter how the Pelicans get a victory tonight, as long as they do. A familiar feeling is already starting to spread through the fanbase, and it needs a reason to believe that this rough start is nothing more than that, rather than a precursor to another disappointing season.
Probable Starting Lineups
| Dallas Mavericks | New Orleans Pelicans |
| G – Luka Doncic (32.6 pts, 8.5 ast, 8.4 reb) | G – Dyson Daniels (8.3 pts, 5.1 reb, 3.0 ast) |
| G – Kyrie Irving (23.0 pts, 6.8 ast) | G – Jordan Hawkins (12.6 pts, 35.1 3P%) |
| F – Derrick Jones Jr. (8.9 pts, 36.6 3P%) | F – Brandon Ingram (22.6 pts, 5.3 reb, 4.7 ast) |
| F – Grant Williams (11.4 pts, 50.0 3P%) | F – Zion Williamson (21.6 pts, 6.5 reb, 4.1 ast) |
| C – Dereck Lively II (8.8 pts, 6.7 reb) | C – Jonas Valanciunas (12.3 pts, 8.7 reb) |
Injuries
New Orleans Pelicans: Jose Alvarado (right ankle sprain), CJ McCollum (right lung), Trey Murphy III (left knee partial meniscectomy), Larry Nance Jr. (right rib fracture) and EJ Liddell (G League) are OUT; Herbert Jones (right fibula contusion) is questionable
Dallas Mavericks: Maxi Kleber (toe) is OUT
Who: Dallas Mavericks (8-2, 1-1) vs New Orleans Pelicans (4-6, 0-1)
Series history: Mavericks lead all-time 53-26, Series split 2-2 in 2022-23
Where: Smoothie King Center
When: November 14, 7:00 PM CT
Where to watch: Bally Sports New Orleans
Where to listen: WRNO 99.5
READ MORE
- Pelicans Start 6-Game Home Stand By Trying to End 4-Game Losing Streak
- Defending Champion Nuggets Present A Major Road Test for the Pelicans
- After Big Comeback in OKC, Pelicans Come Back to The Blender to Host Pistons
- Pels Host Knicks Seeking First Home Opening Win Since 2020-21 Season
- 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
- Dyson Daniels Needed For More Than Defense In Year 2
- Making a Difference: How Larry Nance Jr. Elevates the Pelicans’ Second Unit
- New Orleans Pelicans Better Positioned to Handle Adversity
Willie not on bench tonight.
Finally, some good news😂 plus Herb is back
I am about ready to fire Barraso. If he really believes a starting five of Zion, BI, Herb, Val and Dice is the way to beat the Mavs, then all hope is lost for this team
Hawkins is as smooth a player as the Pels have ever had..no wasted motion..beautiful form on his jumper…simply glides around the floor.
Can’t wait to see Hawk on floor with Trigga when he returns. Don’t know if Pels are playing good or Mavs just playing bad tonight or maybe both. Glad NOH back
Thought it was interesting that, when Herb was asked why the offense looked better last night, he said “player and ball movement”. So, somebody got the memo.
I saw and thought same thing. Maybe they ought to show that to some others on team…don’t think I have to mention any names.
Will be interesting to see what team shows up Friday against Nugs. Any update on time frame when Jose will be back?
Watching Embiid against the Celtics tonight…We complain about Zion, but has Embiid ever truly been in game shape? He doesn’t seem to have as big an impact on games as he should have, and there are games when he just seems to go into funks and stops playing.