February 8th - New Orleans Pelicans vs Houston Rockets - 21-32

Starting off the homestand 💪

🏀: vs Houston
🕖: 7pm CST
📺: @BallySportsNO
📻: @ESPNRadioNOLA#Pelicans | @SmoothieKing pic.twitter.com/tlBp6y0X0G

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 8, 2022

Round two

When's the first game you guys think we see CJ?

Probably after the all star break.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

Probably after the all star break.

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Is that a joke? I'd expect Saturday at the absolute latest, and don't see why it wouldn't be Thursday

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Originally Posted by DarkHornet

Is that a joke? I'd expect Saturday at the absolute latest, and don't see why it wouldn't be Thursday

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They still doing week long covid protocol for trades, right?

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Originally Posted by Taker597

They still doing week long covid protocol for trades, right?

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I don't think so. Powell has already played for the Clippers

Yeah, Powell played 2 days after being traded. Hopefully we see CJ Thursday, but could be Saturday.

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Originally Posted by donato

Yeah, Powell played 2 days after being traded. Hopefully we see CJ Thursday, but could be Saturday.

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Prefer Saturday with how our guys get injured. No need to rush him and he injuries himself from doing too much.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

Prefer Saturday with how our guys get injured. No need to rush him and he injuries himself from doing too much.

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What? He has been playing regularly. He should be there Thursday.

That trade was broken into layers. It depends on when his portion of the trade gets finalized.

i wonder how will the team come out tonight without hart energy....

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Originally Posted by 6warddude

i wonder how will the team come out tonight without hart energy....

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Hopefully with Jose energy.

Hart turned into my favorite player, so I'll miss him and hopefully the team doesn't take a giant emotional hit from this but I'm thinking with Jose energy, Herb work ethic, and the tight atmosphere Green and BI have created....we should be fine.

These are the moments that Temple makes sense. All reports are that the guy is a very grounding presence in the locker room.

that second unit is having fun and ballin....naji doing what hart does and thats push the pace full steam to the rim....glad to see naji getting some run....

A half hour interview on Bally Broadcast with David Griffin and not even a passive mention of Zion Williamson's rehab. Something is not right.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

A half hour interview on Bally Broadcast with David Griffin and not even a passive mention of Zion Williamson's rehab. Something is not right.

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Griff is hoping that fans forget Zion ever existed.

See you soon �� https://t.co/Ittb7phImj

— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) February 9, 2022

I was really worried in the 2nd half because we let Houston stay within spitting distance plus we had major foul problems with JV and Jaxon, but the reserves played lights out when BI was on the bench getting his rest. The 4th quarter was frantic but this team plays hard. The young kids keep getting better and better. Obviously, it was against a very young Rockets team, but still....

Zion is officially a ghost.

BI needs to be given props on the defensive end now. 3 blocks and off-ball defense has been fantastic. Even if that only shows up on the stat sheet by proxy.

Ain’t going to lie. Seeing Josh and NAW on the sidelines cheering their brothers on and them hugging them at the end brought a tear to my eye. Beautiful moment and shows this team is more than a business. Willie has brought a new culture for sure.

On another note. The refs were a joke. Especially when it came to JV. Every time he put a pinky on someone they would play there best actor role and get a whistle! Extremely frustrating!

This team gets the weirdest calls against it you just don't see in other games.

Half the time I have no idea what they called.

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Originally Posted by TennMan23

Ain’t going to lie. Seeing Josh and NAW on the sidelines cheering their brothers on and them hugging them at the end brought a tear to my eye. Beautiful moment and shows this team is more than a business. Willie has brought a new culture for sure.

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Me, too, man. That was rough. I'm really going to miss Josh Hart.

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Originally Posted by 6warddude

that second unit is having fun and ballin....naji doing what hart does and thats push the pace full steam to the rim....glad to see naji getting some run....

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I noticed that Naji was doing what Josh did. If the defense lets him drive to the basket, he does at full speed. And they are two strong to get in the way.

First game I watched in months. Been hearing the chatter at Jax's improvement but WOW. At his best in the past, he has looked like an uber athletic guy who has talent but plays out of control. Tonight he looked like a fundamentally sound player taking what is given to him and not forcing anything - and letting his physical advantages help him win matchups. Love to see that

Also... we don't look like losers out there anymore. None of these guys are quitting or giving up down the stretch. There's still some Q4 execution issues, but it's not a loser mentality anymore. By early Dec I got tired of watching that defeated energy every game. MAJOR props to Willie.

Let me just say how nice it is that we were able to go into a game that we are supposed to win, be missing some of our key guys from recent games because of the trade, have the distraction of the trade, and still beat the Rockets comfortably. This is looking like a team that is figuring out how to take care of business.

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Originally Posted by DarkHornet

Let me just say how nice it is that we were able to go into a game that we are supposed to win, be missing some of our key guys from recent games because of the trade, have the distraction of the trade, and still beat the Rockets comfortably. This is looking like a team that is figuring out how to take care of business.

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What I took from the game is we have some players that were buried on the bench and had no business being there.

Great team win!

CJ McCollum and Tony Snell are expected to make their debuts for Pelicans tomorrow night ��

��: https://t.co/63gwxZVCp3#WBD pic.twitter.com/e5g37YlhAK

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 9, 2022

Snell isn’t actually going to play, right? Between him and Temple, the CJ excitement will be out the window right away, if those two see the court in the same game. That’s like Solo and Twaun reincarnated.

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Originally Posted by Fedupfan

Snell isn’t actually going to play, right? Between him and Temple, the CJ excitement will be out the window right away, if those two see the court in the same game. That’s like Solo and Twaun reincarnated.

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Think about how hard Green pushed Temple, and for how long. Now he has a new old guy to play. I would be shocked if Snell didn't see at least some minutes - Naji is going back to benchriding imo.

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Originally Posted by Fedupfan

Snell isn’t actually going to play, right? Between him and Temple, the CJ excitement will be out the window right away, if those two see the court in the same game. That’s like Solo and Twaun reincarnated.

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i think green has seen the light....we are playoff mode and the young guys are doing their part keeping temple at limited mins.....temple will get about 5-7mins as a glue guy willie trust...

im putting it out in the universe lol....

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Think about how hard Green pushed Temple, and for how long. Now he has a new old guy to play. I would be shocked if Snell didn't see at least some minutes - Naji is going back to benchriding imo.

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I don't know what Naji has to do to prove himself. He is a younger version of Josh Hart with more athleticism. The Pelicans will probably never get any credit for developing Hart (his Laker Numbers were nothing of note), but if the team did have anything to do with his development...Naji is in good hands.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

I don't know what Naji has to do to prove himself. He is a younger version of Josh Hart with more athleticism. The Pelicans will probably never get any credit for developing Hart (his Laker Numbers were nothing of note), but if the team did have anything to do with his development...Naji is in good hands.

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Hopefully Naji has been humbled. His SL play made him think he could be an offensive star and it affected him a little early in the season. If he continues to play under control, he could be a valuable defender.