New Orleans has racked up praise throughout the season, and rightly so. In a Western Conference that has become ‘wild’ at times, those from Louisiana found a privileged place based on seriousness and diversity in their game. With a healthy Zion Williamson and an interesting group of young players stepping forward, they have been almost continuously in direct playoff qualifying positions; and we say almost because they have collapsed at the worst possible moment.
When the time has come to give the final acceleration, Brandon Ingram’s injury has hit them hard. The forward must return shortly, but it seems that he will do so simply to verify in situ that they must finally compete in the play-in. Having the good fortune of having up to six consecutive games at home, the Pelicans have fallen in up to five of them, thus squandering their income and now finding themselves in seventh place behind the Dallas Mavericks and Phoenix Suns. Can they get worse? It looks like it is.
With the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers just one game away, the Pelicans must now also deal with Zion Williamson’s injury. The Louisiana star injured his left hand while trying to make a block in the game against the Orlando Magic. Although the problem is not serious, the team talks about a contusion on a finger that prevented him from being in the last morning against the San Antonio Spurs, a team with which they lost 109-111.
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The truth is that seeing the Pelicans lose games under these circumstances is no surprise. Ingram hasn’t played in eight games and New Orleans has lost up to 20.9 points a night. Without him, the balance has been 3-5. Last night they also had to make up for the lack of Zion Williamson’s 22.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5 assists… Too many stones in the way to remain firm.
As if anything else was missing, they now face four consecutive games on the road against the Suns, Trail Blazers, Kings and Warriors. Yes, they need to do really well on that trip if they want to make it to the final day, at home against the Lakers, alive.
(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
2024-04-06 05:30:00
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