19th November - New Orleans Pelicans VS Portland Trailblazers - 4-9

[Pelicanidae]

Tonight we, the 4-9 Pelicans, take on the 5-9 Blazers. This game has the cool implication of letting us leapfrog the Blazers in the standings if we win (5-9 being better than 5-10, obviously). It also carries the fact that if we win, we will be 4-4 at home. This is good. You've gotta be a respectable home team, if nothing else, to have any hopes of the postseason, so us getting to .500 at home is a good start.

Let's talk injuries. We've still got 'em. Here's the injury report:

Pelicans injury report - 11/19 vs. POR: pic.twitter.com/NJUEghqo9l

— Pelicans PR (@PelicansPR) November 18, 2019

So that's Favors, Hart, Miller, Zion all definitely out. Jah is doubtful, and Ball/Ingram/Frank are all questionable. Redick is back.

On the other side, we will be seeing the debut of Blazers Melo, which should be fun especially because of this revelation:

Damian Lillard is OUT tonight(Back spasms)

Carmelo Anthony is Active

— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) November 19, 2019

That's right, Lillard is not going to be playing. Just for a fun bit of information, so far this Blazers team is a -18 when Lillard is off the court, so hopefully some of that awfulness transmits to tonight and we can take advantage for a win.

The Blazers are the league's 22nd ranked defense and the 13th ranked offense, so they're not particularly fiery on either end, and with Damian Lillard out, that offensive rating should be difficult for them to live up to. With the removal of Dame and the insertion of Melo, I think it's also plausible that their 28th ranked assist-rate drops even further tonight as well. The Blazers are relatively foul prone, ranked 27th in the NBA, and only shoot 44% from the floor, good for 23rd in the NBA.

This is a winnable game if we go out there and put the pressure on like we did last time out. It's not guaranteed, of course, but it can be done.

Let's go out there and get the win. #WBD

[kinglio21093]

Would have been nice to see Jrue take Dame to school again. Oh well.

[Fedupfan]

I wonder who comes back tonight. Trajan said in an interview the other day that he expected a “number” of guys to be back tonight. I’m hoping BI, ZO, and Frank minimum

[Pelicanidae]

I wonder who comes back tonight. Trajan said in an interview the other day that he expected a “number” of guys to be back tonight. I’m hoping BI, ZO, and Frank minimum

Well, it's probably at least one of those three. It's not gonna be anyone who's listed ''out'', so it's either going to be Okafor or those guys, and since Okafor is ''doubtful'' rather than just ''questionable'', that makes it a pretty clear guess that it's going to be one of them.

[Fedupfan]

Well, it's probably at least one of those three. It's not gonna be anyone who's listed ''out'', so it's either going to be Okafor or those guys, and since Okafor is ''doubtful'' rather than just ''questionable'', that makes it a pretty clear guess that it's going to be one of them.

I’m hoping for Frank and BI. That would be good enough so we don’t have to see Gray lol

[Taker597]

I wonder who comes back tonight. Trajan said in an interview the other day that he expected a “number” of guys to be back tonight. I’m hoping BI, ZO, and Frank minimum

The less, the better for Gentry

[Pelicanidae]

I’m hoping for Frank and BI. That would be good enough so we don’t have to see Gray lol

I would assume at least one of the people coming back is Frank. He got whacked, sure, but it wasn't reported as concussion or anything so it's probably the least serious injury; missing one game seems to make sense for that.

I'm a bit more unsure about BI, because his status has changed a bunch of times. He was out, then he was doubtful, then questionable, then probable, then questionable again. So I don't really know what's going on there.

Frank's the only one I'm comfortable in just assuming will be back, and frankly I'll take him over Gray.

[Pelicanidae]

Kenrich and Jaxson when they see Melo in the paint pic.twitter.com/CbjYcunKye

— TS% Eliot (@Cosmis) November 19, 2019

[Pelicanidae]

Carmelo Anthony is starting https://t.co/BdAvIxV6bQ

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) November 19, 2019

Carmelo's manage to force his way into maintaining a starting role even after being out of the league. Incredible grift.

[Pelicanidae]

Alvin Gentry says he believes Brandon Ingram and Frank Jackson will play tonight.

— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) November 19, 2019

[Pelicanidae]

Tonight's #Pelicans starters! #WontBowDown pic.twitter.com/Y8Gto7jeO7

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) November 20, 2019

Jax gets the start again. Moore moves back to the bench. Not sure why they have Ingram at the 4 and Kenrich at the 3, surely it makes more sense to swap that over, but otherwise this is okay.

[13 - 3]

Melo time is almost here ��

(via @trailblazers) pic.twitter.com/SEiAo7ItUv

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) November 19, 2019

[Pelicanidae]

I get the feeling that I'm going to enjoy watching Melo at PF try to defend Ingram and be the help on Jax.

[Nichols]

I get the feeling that I'm going to enjoy watching Melo at PF try to defend Ingram and be the help on Jax.

Wouldn't be surprised if Jax put him on a poster tonight.

[pelicanchamp]

I think Carmelo needs to be humbled. He’s so full of himself. Always has been. I hope he gets held to 0.


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[JunkHead]

I get the feeling that I'm going to enjoy watching Melo at PF try to defend Ingram and be the help on Jax.

What's fascinating about this... is that the last time Carmelo Anthony played a game in the NBA, Ingram wasn't even born yet. Truly a battle of the eras.

[Pelicanidae]

What's fascinating about this... is that the last time Carmelo Anthony played a game in the NBA, Ingram wasn't even born yet. Truly a battle of the eras.

I mean, you joke, but Carmelo hasn't actually played basketball at an NBA level for about 6 years so it's not too far off.

[JunkHead]

I mean, you joke, but Carmelo hasn't actually played basketball at an NBA level for about 6 years so it's not too far off.

lol we both got jokes. :P

[Taker597]

It would be the most #PelsLife game to get gassed by Melo.

[JJackisangry]

Frank has a soothing voice

[Creative]

Today is my 36th birthday, so you can guess what I want. Win today's game!

[JJackisangry]

Nice fake by BI

[JJackisangry]

Come on Jrue. You gotta get there. Left him wide open

[Pelicanidae]

Melo just fouled the christ out of Hayes, no call.

[JJackisangry]

Lovely 3 there. At least Jrue isn’t letting the clock run out