January 2nd - New Orleans Pelicans VS Toronto Raptors - 3-2

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

Bledsoe been yuge

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His best game as a Pel so far, no question.

BLED!!!

Here's a sentence that couldn't have been said last year, basically ever:

''The Pelicans are really locking down defensively in the final moments of this tight game, coming up with a ton of really intense team plays.''

Eric is like a reverse 2019 4th Quarter Jrue...

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Here's a sentence that couldn't have been said last year, basically ever:

''The Pelicans are really locking down defensively in the final moments of this tight game, coming up with a ton of really intense team plays.''

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Winning in the clutch... Another change for us from last year.

Pels win, 120-116: we are 4-2 on the season.

Bledsoe took this game over on both sides of the court. Without him we lose.

We lost the lead when he was taken out and regained it when he was re-inserted.

2nd win in the clutch feels good after all those lame duck close loses from last year.**

Team just needs good Bledsoe or good Lonzo and they have a chance in any game.

Of course BI just needs to be BI.

This team is pretty dang scrappy...

And unfortunately Zion is on an advanced learning curve. Seeing double and triple teams 30 ish games into his career.

Super happy with the way we handled ourselves down the stretch. Bit confused why Zion sat so long in the 4th with the Raps not having Baines or Siakam on? Perfect chance to see small ball 5 Zion?

Ummm, to clarify earlier comments. I said JJ's looks are more rushed this year, which I believe is true, but another way of saying it is 'not in rhythm' which may be more accurate. His shots aren't in rhythm.

Anyways, Ingram is the truth man, I thought we'd be waiting till he was a year or two older to see this, and that was a hopeful prediction. He's waaaay ahead of where I thought he'd be.

Gotta figure out what to do when Zion gets hard doubled, give the kid some help, should be feasting off those as a team.

It feels good to see the team get stops at the end of games.

Player Names	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	fg%	3pt%	FT%	to	pf	mins
Brandon Ingram	31	6	4	0	1	8/17 (47.0%)	4/8 (50%)	11/14 (78.6%)	3	2	35
Zion Williamson	21	7	1	0	1	7/12 (58.3%)	0/0	7/10 (70%)	3	2	33
Steven Adams	13	10	1	2	0	4/7 (57.1%)	0/0	5/8 (62.5%)	3	2	31
Eric Bledsoe	19	5	10	1	1	5/12 (41.6%)	4/6 (66.6%)	5/6 (83.3%)	0	3	31
Lonzo Ball	13	4	4	0	2	5/14 (35.7%)	3/8 (37.5%)	0/0	0	3	35

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Originally Posted by luckyman

And unfortunately Zion is on an advanced learning curve. Seeing double and triple teams 30 ish games into his career.

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Definitely. He's responding well to it though.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

And unfortunately Zion is on an advanced learning curve. Seeing double and triple teams 30 ish games into his career.

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They set it up so well to work it against them in the 4th, tho.

When fatigue set in from trying to bang with Zion all night. It's definitely a scheme that works if shooting struggles. Got to keep our guards playing with confidence.

Probably the best team effort of the season. Everyone except JJ had a good to great game. Melli & NAW barely played so they don?t count lol. Loved Bled and Hayes? play. Hayes with some big boards and free throws. He needed a confidence boost and hopefully he got one to carry over to next few games.

Bled and Lonzo just have to be aggressive and good things will happen

I see where Bled had a Double Double.

Well- hopefully Lonzo and Bledsoe answered the question with these past two games that they can coexist as long as they are facilitating as they should be. The ball movement is getting much better (still needs work) but there is a lot less stopping than before. Bledsoe and Lonzo will need to continue playmaking as they have and hopefully they don’t get ice cold again from 3 as we were to start the season. That was painful.

14 assists between the two tonight. Much better

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Originally Posted by DaPelFromHell

Probably the best team effort of the season. Everyone except JJ had a good to great game. Melli & NAW barely played so they don’t count lol. Loved Bled and Hayes’ play. Hayes with some big boards and free throws. He needed a confidence boost and hopefully he got one to carry over to next few games.

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Yes, I'll agree. It was Hayes best effort as a Pelican. He has really good form when shooting free throws. Would love to see him work on the corner three.

Ingram is going to be an All Star again. He?s a quiet leader. His game is reminding me of Kobe. So skilled and so aggressive. He?s playing with a lot of confidence. I bet he?s going to surprise us because he?s still developing his game.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Just finished.

And yet another game that, in the past, we lose almost every time. Awesome stuff.

Good to see Hayes catching passes down low and going hard to the bucket. And knocking down FTs. Also being disruptive down low

We're going to look really good on offense when JJ's shot starts falling. It's just a matter of time before he's back.

Tonight we saw a glimpse of the potential that Zion has as a ball handler on the perimeter. My god it was beautiful.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

We're going to look really good on offense when JJ's shot starts falling. It's just a matter of time before he's back.

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I would think at some point it comes back. Miami got in his head. I am 100 percent convinced.

Now THAT'S how you close out a game! Exact opposite of last year.

If Bledsoe is now comfortable in this offense then that's a huge step forward. That shot was clutch as hell.

So at 4-2 we are 2nd place in the West, behind the Suns? LOL

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Originally Posted by ragincaucasian

Now THAT'S how you close out a game! Exact opposite of last year.

If Bledsoe is now comfortable in this offense then that's a huge step forward. That shot was clutch as hell.

So at 4-2 we are 2nd place in the West, behind the Suns? LOL

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Well, joint second with the Lakers and the Clippers, but yes.

The Pelicans are a mostly young team, who played great at the end of the game. Now they know what to do in situations like this.

https://youtu.be/YQ1Gk88yaBI

Gotta rewind. Love SVG honesty and speak straight basketball. Not copping pleas or shifting blame.

Are those Pels players behind David running sprints and getting up shots after the game?

Yep

SVG - The reason why Zion wasn't back in at the end, because we didn't have time outs. So, he rode it out.

Just for comparison, this time last season (6 games in, not the date) we were 1-5

Didn’t JJ go through a similar slump when he first started with the Pels? Can’t recall his numbers, but think he struggled for a few games for sure...

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Originally Posted by Taker597

SVG - The reason why Zion wasn't back in at the end, because we didn't have time outs. So, he rode it out.

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Glad he wasn't able to force that decision. Hart was perfect to defend what Toronto had on the floor tonight to close the game.

"The Pelicans overpaid for Steven Adams...", "Theres no way he'd command $17mm in the open market next summer..." :hihi:

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Originally Posted by Taker597

SVG - The reason why Zion wasn't back in at the end, because we didn't have time outs. So, he rode it out.

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You can sub in on free throws

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Originally Posted by AusPel

You can sub in on free throws

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I think he was talking about at the very very end. I didn't get to watch most of the 4th. Once he saw it was working.. He rode it out

https://www.reddit.com/r/NOLAPelican...nderwalker_is/


NAW keeps putting in work.

Can we sign this guy on a minimum deal so that we can have Eric B and Rakim?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakim_Sanders

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIevmVrisDs

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Originally Posted by new city champ

Didn’t JJ go through a similar slump when he first started with the Pels? Can’t recall his numbers, but think he struggled for a few games for sure...

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So far this season, Redick is 8/31 from 3, good for 25.8%

In the first 6 games of last year, Redick was 15/38, good for 39.5%

In fact, through his first 15 games, he shot 47.7% from 3, on 7.3 per game. It was a pretty hot start.

jaxson was solid this game. worked the boards and was mostly where he needed to be on the floor.

If we're going to give grief for when he looks unplayable...

Can I say how much I don't miss Etwaun Moore and Solomon Hill...? It soothe the soul.

Damn it feels good to be 4-2.

I'm starting to actually enjoy being a fan again..... It's been a while lol

They really had to work for this one. Had to survive a team looking for revenge, a late 3 point barrage, zone defense, doubles and triples on Zion and BI.

Even though it is the beginning of the season, it feels good to see the team second in the conference. Especially knowing that they can get better.

Good to see Jax showed some positive improvement. The OKC game was pretty rough for him. I'm glad Bledsoe is starting to get comfortable. He has some dog in him. Zion started waking up a bit too. I thought he was starting to play well in the OKC game until the fouls took him out of the game. I understand why he was so frustrated it seems like the refs were letting everyone other than him get away with a lot of physical play.

Still guys. We're gonna need more bench play. Let's hope JJ gets it together soon, Nickeil can get 15+ mins a game, Hayes keeps improving, and Melli HOPEFULLY gets it together rather quickly.

Wow! Cheers to sweeping Toronto/Tampa!