December 31st - New Orleans Pelicans @ Memphis Grizzlies - 23-12

[Pelicanidae]

Finishing 2022 off with some hoops 🏀

🕖: 7:00pm CT
📺: Bally Sports NO
📻: @995WRNO #Pelicans | @SmoothieKing pic.twitter.com/nW3qhZI7Is

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) December 31, 2022

Following yet another win, our 5th in a row, against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Pelicans hit the road to take on the Grizzlies. The Grizz are, of course, not afraid of anyone in the west despite their losing record against the West, so we should be prepared for a fearless team.

The Grizzlies are currently 21-13, but are only 2-4 in their last six games. That doesn't mean too much - we all know even good teams can lose a few, we just had a losing streak - but it's something to be aware of, especially when you consider that 3 of those 4 losses were by 14+ points.

Part of that is road related though, and the Grizz are a better team at home, so we can't walk in there - especially on the second night of a back to back - and expect to steam roll. The team will need to be on their best behaviour and playing in full force to secure a win.

Let's see what happens.

[6warddude]

cj, zion and jonas should sit out tonight....call up some G league bigs and let kira and the others get some run tonight....

[Pelicanidae]

cj, zion and jonas should sit out tonight....call up some G league bigs and let kira and the others get some run tonight....

Translation: ''We should voluntarily lose this game and hand a W to a division rival less than 3 games behind us in the seeding''

[6warddude]

Translation: ''We should voluntarily lose this game and hand a W to a division rival less than 3 games behind us in the seeding''

team played hard last night...if you believe that this team is good then sitting guys out tonight wont matter because at the end of the season cream rises to the top...right?....

[Pelicanidae]

team played hard last night...if you believe that this team is good then sitting guys out tonight wont matter because at the end of the season cream rises to the top...right?....

Sure, and I get the logic of ''it's a schedule loss, don't go crazy'' but I just can't get the mindset of throwing games when you're a team that's trying to win. Tanking is a different situation but just forfeiting games, especially in division, is not on my mind this year.

[P_B_&_G]

I could see pulling guys early if the game gets way out of hand but you don't plan to throw a game with a team like this. They could just as easily go in there and blow Memphis out if some of their guys have an off night. It isnt like we have a veteran team with tons of minutes on old legs.

[P_B_&_G]

Kind of scary to think about the potential of this team if we can ever see them fully healthy. Scary for the rest of the NBA I mean.

[Pelicanidae]

I could see pulling guys early if the game gets way out of hand but you don't plan to throw a game with a team like this. They could just as easily go in there and blow Memphis out if some of their guys have an off night. It isnt like we have a veteran team with tons of minutes on old legs.

That's my logic. Maybe have a soft minutes cap in mind, lean a bit heavier on the bench if you can, definitely don't throw anyone out for 40 minutes tonight, but actually try. If you're down 20 in the late third, maybe go garbage time super early, but give yourself the chance. We know this team can just as easily bury oppositions early, and Memphis has an extremely mid offense so we should be able to parcel them up reasonably well.

[6warddude]

Sure, and I get the logic of ''it's a schedule loss, don't go crazy'' but I just can't get the mindset of throwing games when you're a team that's trying to win. Tanking is a different situation but just forfeiting games, especially in division, is not on my mind this year.

dae its cool...i figured someone would come on and say it..so i said let it be me....see you wont get a back and forth with me about it because i know how to let it go........the good thing about us is that we are so damn deep that we can play guys small mins to give them rest and not have to sit guys out because our bench has shown that they can step up.....

[Pelicanidae]

Trey Murphy has been added to the injury report with a right ankle sprain. He's questionable for tonight's game in Memphis. Larry Nance is out again with his neck injury.

Herb Jones is no longer listed on the injury report. pic.twitter.com/v51KJ4FOVm

— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) December 31, 2022

Trey potentially back out, Herb back in

If the Pels ever get legit healthy for any period of time, it will be insane.

[luckyman]

Wannabe Kobe is not only very annoying with an ugly jump shot, he's also kinda stupid. Too bad this is an NBA greed b2b game.

Dillon Brooks guarded Zion Williamson in the last Grizzlies-Pelicans matchup. I asked him about his physicality and D-Lo’s recent Zion take.

Brooks: “I play football, too.” https://t.co/qhgSmuI2n2

— Damichael Cole (@DamichaelC) December 31, 2022

[hornetsrebirth]

Memphis is the biggest competition for us in the division imo. Would love to see a win here to gain confidence against them.

[JJackisangry]

This would be a bonus game for us IMO. I don’t think we take this one on a back to back but who knows. Having a fresh Herb may be the difference

[neworleanshoo]

definite bonus game, but we've all seen enough to know that our depth just might be good enough to get it done.

[JJackisangry]

definite bonus game, but we've all seen enough to know that our depth just might be good enough to get it done.

Nothing would surprise me for sure

[hornetsrebirth]

Im going to try to not be a jerk about it, but we are 1 possession into the game and already 1 wide open 3 missed by Herb

[neworleanshoo]

nice to see Trey playing

[hornetsrebirth]

nice to see Trey playing

he seems to have trouble switching on defense tho

[hornetsrebirth]

CJ already has 4 turnovers and there is 3 min to go in the 1st quarter

[Pelicanidae]

CJ already has 4 turnovers and there is 3 min to go in the 1st quarter

He's also gone 1/5 from the floor. Shot his legs out last night, I think.

[hornetsrebirth]

The Grizzlies are a tough team man. They play together as a unit, setting each other up on offense, in the passing lanes on defense, and I dont know what the answer for Morant is.

[Pelicanidae]

I dont know what the answer for Morant is.

As long as the refs are going to call phantom fouls to bench Zion when Ja goes near him, there isn't one.

[AD-AT]

Let's go Jax!

[As I See It]

To all you non-believers (you know who you are), Naji is real!! He is eligible for re-sign this off season (after next year he will be UFA). We better sweeten the pot before we lose him after 23-24.

[Pelicanidae]

Gotta say, they kinda faded away for a little bit, but can't say I missed the ''multi-small guard'' lineups