6th February - New Orleans Pelicans @ Chicago Bulls - 20-31

Much better ball movement when Reddick and Hart came into the game.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Much better ball movement when Reddick and Hart came into the game.

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They need to remember to do that when Zion and Ingram are on the floor.

Great kickout from Zion and good ballmovement from everyone else following it too

Hope Zion's okay. He took a couple of heavy hits there for a second, looked a bit shaken running back up the court.

Zion looked a little hobbled. Toe is bothering him?

Great spin and finish from Zion. Guess he's okay :hihi:

No idea why both people would drop away from Arcidiacono there on the perimeter. Roll man doesn't need triple teaming :hihi:

Zion gets bumped on the drive, no call

Fantastic drive and finish from Jrue in transition there, using the right hand this time

Another beautiful drive and finish from Jrue, but also; great seal off from Zion there. Completely eliminated the rim protector.

Melli is doing great out there. On both ends

Zion curls off, drives down the middle, goes up for the neat finish through heavy contact and its an and-one. Nice to see.

Zion with an EMPHATIC dunk!

Melli does all the little things...and does them well.

That was a decent look for Jrue to take but I'd have liked to have seen him make that dump off pass to Zion, who had tons of room and a perfect angle. Would have been the higher level play.

Drive and kick from Ingram looks nice, right into a Jrue 3 pointer. Good play

No turnovers from Jrue or Ingram so far.. We're in good shape when those two have no turnovers.

Hope Ingram's okay, he had some real nasty looks on his face after that ouch

I'm way behind. Just got to that Phi Slamma Jamma by Hayes. Oh wow. And JJ's face. Lol. Couldn't resist posting.

As much as we've taken control of this game, and we have, I think there's still a lot to improve upon when you've given up 60 in the first half to the NBA's 27th ranked offense. They're on pace for 124 tonight, when their usual average for a game is about 105.

AD would have been in the locker room will that ankle roll

End of the first half, we're up 72-62.

First Half Statlines

Ingram: 12 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals. 4/8 shooting, 1/3 from 3. 1 turnover, 2 fouls.
Lonzo: 6 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal. 2/4 shooting, all from 3. 1 turnover, 0 fouls.
Zion:6 points, 1 rebound, 1 block. 3/5 shooting. 1 turnover, 0 fouls*
Jrue: 9 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block. 4/7 shooting (57.1%), 1/3 from 3. 0 turnovers, 2 fouls.
Favors 2 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block. 1/2 shooting. 0 turnovers, 1 foul.

Bench

JJ: 13 points, 4 assists, 5/9 shooting (3/7 from 3).
Melli: 5 points, 3 assists, 2 steals. 2/3 shooting
Hart: 9 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists. 3/5 shooting
Jax: 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block. 100% shooting in 4 minutes; monster putback.



*I'm sure the box score is wrong on Zion's statline. It lists him as having 1 rebound and 0 assists, and I'm pretty sure he has 2 boards and 1 assist, but whatever.

As a side note, the Bucks are playing the Sixers tonight. You know, the 31-20 Sixers.

Bucks are up at halftime. Giannis has 19/10/4 in 17 minutes on 53% shooting. The only reason it's not a blowout is that the Bucks are having an ice cold night from 3 (21%) and the Sixers are hot (43%) on equal number of attempts.

So all the people who were freaking out about us losing to the Bucks last game? Might just be that they're a good team.

Oh that move is gonna be deadly once he gets it under control.

''Under they blow the whistle, keep doing what you're doing. Reaching, using your hands, whatever.'' - Joel on how they're defending Zion lol

Great offensive board and putback from Zion after Favors absolutely walls off the rim on the other end.

Really nice sequence.

Hoping Zion bodies someone on a fastbreak this game :)

Man, Favors is such a good short roll passer I thought he was going to hit the wrap around there :hihi: wishful thinking

That's the second time that Zion's been handling the ball on a fastbreak and his shoes just seem to have lost all grip.

Anyone out there played in Jordan 34s can tell me if they have terrible traction or something?

Really good defense on the drive there from Zion despite the off-arm shoving, and then on the other end he makes the right pass out to Lonzo which starts a nice swing around the arc ending in an Ingram 3. It misses, but offensive board from Favors leads to points and it's success.

Favors already has 14 rebounds.

Man, their strategy for defending Zion in the post is ''just shove him around lol'' and the refs are like... nice, good strategy :hihi:

Favors lowkey has 14 boards already

No one Zion's own height can guard him. I'd love to see Zion against LeBron.

Great short roll pass from Favors and Zion gets the easy layin

They called one! Zion's heading to the line

After a super slow first quarter (1 shot attempt lol) Zion's up to 16 points on 70%FG in 20 minutes of play

Great, Ingram is hurt... :idoh:

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

That's the second time that Zion's been handling the ball on a fastbreak and his shoes just seem to have lost all grip.

Anyone out there played in Jordan 34s can tell me if they have terrible traction or something?

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I don't think his movement is right. I think the foot is probably bothering him.

His athleticism and overall activity level aren't what they were at Duke or in the preseason since returning from the injury, and tonight he is really not moving much unless he is actively involved in the play.

Brandon Ingram (right ankle sprain) will not return tonight in Chicago.

— Pelicans PR (@PelicansPR) February 7, 2020

This is almost definitely just precautionary, because of how much we're up, but still worth noting.

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Originally Posted by Biasvasospasm

I don't think his movement is right. I think the foot is probably bothering him.

His athleticism and overall activity level aren't what they were at Duke or in the preseason since returning from the injury, and tonight he is really not moving much unless he is actively involved in the play.

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I don't know if that's it. It's happened in other games before this, when he's been much more active. I honestly think the shoes might be garbage :hihi:

His athleticism and overall activity level not being what they were at Duke isn't anything to be worried about imo. He was *insane* at Duke, and then took 10 months off before coming to play for us. The fact that he's not at full 100% mode is about as unsurprising as the sun coming up in the morning.

When Hart is on balance, his shot is money. But he likes to fade and get off his spot.

We are up 22 points, Lonzo has played 25 minutes, and he still hasn't taken a shot inside of the arc. This is getting stupid.

It is remarkable the Bulls are still the No. 9 seed considering they are a lifeless corpse

— Ricky O'Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) February 7, 2020

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I don't know if that's it. It's happened in other games before this, when he's been much more active. I honestly think the shoes might be garbage

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He's also been struggling with his handle. Was much tighter in college and preseason and was more comfortable with the ball on the perimeter.

It's impressive how productive he has been even with those issues, but I'm looking forward to when he regains conditioning and comfort level.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

We are up 22 points, Lonzo has played 25 minutes, and he still hasn't taken a shot inside of the arc. This is getting stupid.

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Zo ain't about to hurt himself attacking the rim.

Zach Lavine sends Zion to the line as he sells out and just fouls rather than contesting or trying to play any D whatsoever

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Originally Posted by boot318

Zo ain't about to attack the rim.

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True

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Originally Posted by Biasvasospasm

He's also been struggling with his handle. Was much tighter in college and preseason and was more comfortable with the ball on the perimeter.

It's impressive how productive he has been even with those issues, but I'm looking forward to when he regains conditioning and comfort level.

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For sure. I honestly don't think people understand the size of that gap he had. 4 preseason games in 10 months, plus a surgery. That was his 10 months before taking the court for us in his debut against San Antonio. No training camp, nothing like that. And this is the level he's playing at. He's obviously not at his peak, he's still being careful, not going for the craziest stuff that he would have done in college; I've seen him almost go for stuff and then back off.

Next year, when he gets all that prep time? Maybe even in the final days of this season? Dude's going to be ridiculous.

Zion's up to 21 points on 81.8% shooting tonight in 22 minutes