Game # 65 Cleveland Visits SKA

I offer this game thread to both of us (assuming there's more than just me).

Cleveland, finds itself in the throes of a two game losing streak and currently entrenched as the third seed in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, The Pelicans are breathing down the necks of the LA Clippers who come to town on Friday night.

Anticipated Starting Lineups

Cleveland:

-Donovan Mitchell
-Darius Garland
-Isaac Okora
-Georges Niang
-Jarrett Allen

New Orleans:

-Herb Jones
-CJ McCollum
-Jonas Valanciunas
-Max 197
-Brandon Ingram

Betting Line:

Cleveland: +5.5
Points: 217.5

DEFENSE!!! DEFENSE!!! DEFENSE!!!

Shot the ball horribly but kept it under 10, still in it..

Yep, that Portland trade is looking worse with each passing day

I said it was a bad trade when we pulled the trigger and it is only getting worse.

JHart and NAW are Ballin'!!

CJ and LNJ are Fallin'!!

14-2 in three's. Unreal.

Our defensive rotations suck tonight. Wish we had DD available.

they just look so off not just the shooting. every pass is bad they are indecisive. very poor game

You shoot 2/18 from three you will lose. No biggie dropping this one really. Just need to get wins elsewhere. Have to take the Clippers to smack town. Winning that is a two game swing.

No excuse losing this one, these are the losses that
come back to haunt you.

I don’t get why they always ******** the bed at home.

Sorry folks, I made the mistake of attending a home game. As always, came away with a loss. This one was the ugliest I can remember, combining the usual "home officiating advantage" with lack of defensive effort, ridiculously bad 3pt shooting and bad performances by the usually reliable Jose, Jonas, Larry and Naji. Arena had a ton of empty seats, representing a lot of lucky fans....

I wonder if they still think they have the best bench in the league? Once again the team fails in an important game and moment... weak characters? No valuable veterans? Terribly disappointing...

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Originally Posted by Creative

I wonder if they still think they have the best bench in the league? Once again the team fails in an important game and moment... weak characters? No valuable veterans? Terribly disappointing...

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No need to overreact to every loss. All teams have off nights.

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

No need to overreact to every loss. All teams have off nights.

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They are 2-9 against play off teams, but keep pumping the sunshine. Yes they had a bad shooting night but give these teams the credit as to why the Pels put up only 19 3's (don't count the 3 they put up in garbage time and went 2 of 3).

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Originally Posted by AUSSIE_PELICAN

They are 2-9 against play off teams, but keep pumping the sunshine. Yes they had a bad shooting night but give these teams the credit as to why the Pels put up only 19 3's (don't count the 3 they put up in garbage time and went 2 of 3).

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Not pumping sunshine. However, certain people only show up to complain. Did not see the same energy during the 4 game winning streak.

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Originally Posted by AUSSIE_PELICAN

They are 2-9 against play off teams, but keep pumping the sunshine. Yes they had a bad shooting night but give these teams the credit as to why the Pels put up only 19 3's (don't count the 3 they put up in garbage time and went 2 of 3).

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Exactly. Why do ppl put so much value into winning against teams without key players, but act like 2-9 isn’t right there in front of them and the “complainers” don’t have legit reasons? It’s probably because the complainers have played, watch, and actually know basketball. Don’t just show up here with all this positive non sense without any reasoning other than the ppl shouldn’t complain cause they win. I put zero value into beating a team without any key players. You have to beat healthy teams, because that’s what the playoffs are. Let’s not even get into the fact they are much more physical in the playoffs.

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

No need to overreact to every loss. All teams have off nights.

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The Pels have off nights against all quality teams it appears. I don’t care if they beat the Nuggets without Jokic.

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

Not pumping sunshine. However, certain people only show up to complain. Did not see the same energy during the 4 game winning streak.

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I don't post here much anymore not because there is less to complain about as clearly the team is better than they have been in the last 5 years, but because there are more important things to worry about than posting in a game thread.

The pels 4 game streak was against bad teams or teams with their best players missing. If that gets people excited then great, but after following this franchise on and off since 1992 it takes me alot to be totally invested and post every day.

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Originally Posted by Fedupfan

Exactly. Why do ppl put so much value into winning against teams without key players, but act like 2-9 isn’t right there in front of them and the “complainers” don’t have legit reasons? It’s probably because the complainers have played, watch, and actually know basketball. Don’t just show up here with all this positive non sense without any reasoning other than the ppl shouldn’t complain cause they win. I put zero value into beating a team without any key players. You have to beat healthy teams, because that’s what the playoffs are. Let’s not even get into the fact they are much more physical in the playoffs.

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Because those people have probably followed them since Zion was drafted or maybe since AD. They don't understand how bad this franchise has been.

How are we 2-9? The Kings are the 6 seed and we're 4-0 against them alone.

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Originally Posted by Fedupfan

The Pels have off nights against all quality teams it appears. I don’t care if they beat the Nuggets without Jokic.

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They are one of only 8 teams with a record of .500 or greater against winning teams.

#Pelicans are one of only 8 teams that are over .500 against opponents that are over .500. Even after a nasty loss to the Cavs, the Pels have cemented themselves as a top-10 team in the league and a sneaky contender in the West. https://t.co/0Lu4IheUzo

— Bryce Duhon (@therealbduhon) March 14, 2024

I agree they have struggled with the very top teams. We may just not be there yet.

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Originally Posted by Fedupfan

The Pels have off nights against all quality teams it appears. I don’t care if they beat the Nuggets without Jokic.

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When exactly was that?

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

When exactly was that?

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I was just using it as an example. In other words, I want them to beat the top teams with the stars. But, I think you are right. We aren’t there yet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Fedupfan

I was just using it as an example. In other words, I want them to beat the top teams with the stars. But, I think you are right. We aren’t there yet.

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OK, got it. I was pretty sure he played when we beat them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

They are one of only 8 teams with a record of .500 or greater against winning teams.

#Pelicans are one of only 8 teams that are over .500 against opponents that are over .500. Even after a nasty loss to the Cavs, the Pels have cemented themselves as a top-10 team in the league and a sneaky contender in the West. https://t.co/0Lu4IheUzo

— Bryce Duhon (@therealbduhon) March 14, 2024

I agree they have struggled with the very top teams. We may just not be there yet.

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And yet, everyone raves about Orlando and Dal and Philly and the Knicks, but it seems they're worse against over .500 teams than we are. And if those teams were banged up when we played them, you can be pretty sure they were also banged up when DAL, the Knicks and Orlando played them.