28th January - New Orleans Pelicans @ Cleveland Cavaliers - 18-29

[Pelicanidae]

Last game we managed to pick up a win, making sure we didn't spend that 3 game homestand entirely winless. Jrue had a good game, Lonzo was at his passing best, and Zion logged in a career first double double. That's great! Tonight, though, we head off on the road for just one game, to grab a cup of coffee in Cleveland.

First though, the injury report:

Kenrich Williams and Darius Miller only players listed on Pelicans' injury report for Tuesday's game at Cleveland.

Report: https://t.co/66jHQTdvoH | @MorrisBartLLC pic.twitter.com/eEyaTFyknE

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) January 27, 2020

Nothing really of note: Kenrich is still out injured, but he's pretty much the only one. Miller, also, but he's been out all year and probably will remain out for the rest of the year too, so nothing surprising.

So, Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland are currently 13-34, having picked up a win last night against Detroit; yes, that means tonight is the second night of a back to back for them. That victory ended a 7 game losing streak for the Cavs, who have gone 3-11 so far in 2020.

Everything we've been bad at this year, they've been worse. Our offense has disappointed, floating somewhere between 15th and 20th for most the year: Cavs are 23rd in ORtg. Our defense has been terrible, somewhere between 24th and 27th most of the year: Cavs are 29th in DRtg. They are also 24th in pace, which doesn't bode well for their ability to run with us consistently. Here are just the blanket, basic stats for the Cavs. Look how bad this is.

3PT%: 34.5%, 23rd in the league
FG%: 45.1%, 22nd
FT%: 76.2%, 20th
Rebounds: 44.1, 20th
Assists: 21.7, 27th
Steals: 6.8, 25th
Blocks: 3.2, 30th
Turnovers: 16.3, 2nd most in the league

Meanwhile, they give up the second highest opponent's FG% in the league, and the 4th highest opponent's 3PT%. They are not a very good basketball team.

A lot of this just comes from their complete lack of effective and consistent playmaking. Darius Garland is currently leading their team in assists, with 3.6 per game. And he's improved recently: if you go back six weeks or so, it was worse than that. Nobody else averages more than 2.8 assists per game (that's Kevin Love). Colin Sexton's ability to run an offense with any kind of confidence or clarity of purpose is staggeringly lax, and a lot of that will be the story of this game: can we use their relatively poor offense as an opportunity to have a good defensive night out? That would be great.

On a tangentially related note, one thing that will be interesting this game is to see the Zion matchup against Tristan Thompson. Thompson isn't some kind of extreme defender, but he is very very strong and is a solid rebounder. While I'm personally pretty sure that Zion will be able to score on him without too much issue, it is interesting to think about.

Realistically though, this is a game we should walk through. This should be a win. Whether it will be or not is another question, and teams can always pull off upsets; nobody on the team should be thinking this is a night off. But it should end in a W.

#WBD

[AD-AT]

Hoping to see a good team win tonight. This should be a good matchup for BI to calm things down and get back to his game.

What would be the ideal offensive plan with Zion and BI on the floor together? Oddly enough, last game it looked like they worked best together when BI was the outlet on the 3 ball. But obviously you want to get more out of BI than just that.

[boot318]

^Ingram needs to stay out of foul trouble.


I miss Kenny Hustle . Dude isn't going to get any more PT when he comes back.

[donato]

Hoping to see a good team win tonight. This should be a good matchup for BI to calm things down and get back to his game.

What would be the ideal offensive plan with Zion and BI on the floor together? Oddly enough, last game it looked like they worked best together when BI was the outlet on the 3 ball. But obviously you want to get more out of BI than just that.

I feel like if Lonzo isn’t initiating the offense then Ingram should be. If Lonzo is initiating the offense then BI should be the first option. Everything works better when we have quick, crisp passing with a lot of ball movement. That said, sometimes BI just making something happen is worthwhile.

[Speakthetruth]

This is really an easy win well it should be

[pelafanatic]

Hopefully one of those games where we can focus on building chemistry and working through some things

[Pelicanidae]

This is really an easy win well it should be

Never assume though. We've had plenty of should-be-easy-wins that we've fumbled and lost.

[Nola3]

Semantically, this is less of a must win than a can't lose.

[13 - 3]

This is really an easy win well it should be

Really? You giving bulletin board material for the Cavs now?

[Creative]

This game is a MUST win for us!

[kidjock24]

Excited for the game tonight. Zion has been everything I could have expected.

Tonight is one of those games where I expect BI to pad some stats. I think some of the cases for his struggles the past 2-3 games is he has gotten in foul trouble and had to be less aggressive. He is the only player who gets called for offensive fouls for driving hard to the rim. I guess his elbows combined with his thin frame draws attention.

[Pelicanidae]

#Cavs injury report for tonight’s game against the Pelicans:

Darius Garland - out (rest)
Brandon Knight - out (left knee soreness)
Kevin Porter Jr. - questionable (right ankle sprain)
Ante Zizic - out (illness)

— Kelsey Russo (@kelseyyrusso) January 28, 2020

[13 - 3]

Restrict minutes?

Rosters for NBA Rising Stars will be announced on Friday at noon ET, league said. Recently told that by a source that Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson would be interested in playing now that he is healthy and on the court. Zion, Ja Morant and Trae Young on the same court ��.

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) January 28, 2020

[msusousaphone]

It never even occured to me that if Zion is able to equal his hype, and I think he will, at some point we'll be showing up to games like this with more Zion fans than home fans.

Wow.

[Pelicanidae]

It never even occured to me that if Zion is able to equal his hype, and I think he will, at some point we'll be showing up to games like this with more Zion fans than home fans.

Wow.

Yep, like when LeBron used to come to New Orleans on road games and the arena would have a strangely high percentage of Cavaliers and Heat jerseys present.

[HornetGuru]

I feel like if Lonzo isn’t initiating the offense then Ingram should be. If Lonzo is initiating the offense then BI should be the first option. Everything works better when we have quick, crisp passing with a lot of ball movement. That said, sometimes BI just making something happen is worthwhile.

Lonzo should only initiate the offense if it’s on the break, if not and it’s a half court setup Jrue should initiate with BI being the first option. That’s why Jrue and Lonzo pair up so well

[Pelicanidae]

Lonzo should only initiate the offense if it’s on the break, if not and it’s a half court setup Jrue should initiate with BI being the first option. That’s why Jrue and Lonzo pair up so well

Also, as Zion begins to get more in-game-form he should be entrusted with a handful of offensive initiator possessions. He has the IQ, the vision, and the ability for it, and it's a vital part of any modern star's game.

Basically, Lonzo's absolute best ability as a passer is functioning as a connective guy; spotting holes in the defense and making quick, almost automatic reads that he's able to process fantastically well because of his high IQ and passing instinct. This functions as a secondary passer, playmaker, and transition guy. He is not the guy you want consistently trying to run your offense in the half-court for play after play.

[As I See It]

Alvin, please consider this lineup at some point: Ball, Holiday, Ingram, Zion, and Melli.

Melli can do something that neither Favors or JAX can do....spread the court for Zion, Ingram, and Holiday to drive in the paint.

[PELICANSFAN]

He is not the guy you want consistently trying to run your offense in the half-court for play after play.

Not every play, but I think he is the PG that should run most. BI and Jrue will have plenty of touches as well.

[Pelicanidae]

Not every play, but I think he is the PG that should run most. BI and Jrue will have plenty of touches as well.

I'm a big fan of the way he's playing right now. Where he's basically taking point on most transition opportunities, and often beginning half court possessions as the ball-handler in search of quick opportunities like those Zion lobs, but who generally gives it up to someone else if nothing materialises within the first 6 seconds or so. I think it goes some way towards maximising his passing ability and his vision, while minimising the damage his relatively low-level half-court skills can cause.

[Pelicanidae]

Couple of interesting quotes

Q: How did you feel being able to finish out the last game?

Zion: It felt great. I'm trying to win. So to be out there in the final minutes, it was great.

Q: Did you expect [Lonzo] to already be throwing inbounds alley-oop passes to you and stuff?

Zion: Yeah, you know, we just give each other that look and we know it's going to be there.

Q: Having played at home only so far, are you surprised by the crowds and fan support?

Zion: Yeah, it's more than I thought it would be. Cause I ain't really played a basketball game since like, March, so to finally get out there and feel the energy, it's more than I expected.


That answer about not playing a basketball game since March is the one I think people often underestimate when they see him moving a little slowly from time to time, or getting a little lost on defense occasionally. You have to remember that, discounting the one quarter of Summer League, Zion had played a total of 4 preseason games in the 10 months prior to getting back on court. 4 games in 10 months, plus a surgery; and yet he's already putting up the numbers he is, as efficiently as he is. Just wait until we see him after all-star break.

[Pelicanidae]

Somewhere inside that swarm of people is Zion Williamson signing autographs pic.twitter.com/1ZUkaiZOtC

— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) January 28, 2020

[WildlifeAirGrp]

Somewhere inside that swarm of people is Zion Williamson signing autographs pic.twitter.com/1ZUkaiZOtC

— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) January 28, 2020

Remind me again, he's a Pelican correct?!?! I thought small market teams couldn't have these things.

[Pelicanidae]

Remind me again, he's a Pelican correct?!?! I thought small market teams couldn't have these things.

Zion Williamson getting cheered at his first regular season road game. pic.twitter.com/IjjKMIsNv8

— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) January 29, 2020

[msusousaphone]

The Cavs had a rebrand?

Whoops. We are down 3. Here come the doomsayers.