November 18th - New Orleans Pelicans vs Minnesota Timberwolves - 6-6

[Pelicanidae]

The #Pelicans are back in The Blender tonight!

🏀 vs Timberwolves
🕕: 6 PM CT
📺: @BallySportsNO
📻: @995WRNO #PelicansGameday | @SmoothieKing pic.twitter.com/wIphEiO9LG

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) November 18, 2023

I'll update the injury report when it's put out, so far it's not been published yet.

Still, good momentum for the team after Herb's return, and there are rumours that a certain GTA will be making his return tonight - we'll see if that's confirmed later.

Tonight is going to be a tough game. KAT's shooting has been hot the last few games after a cold start to the season, and the Wolves defense has still been good, so it's not going to be a cakewalk. That said, if we play the way he have the last two games, I think it's a very real possibility of victory despite it being the second game of a back to back.

That does depend on availability, though; is Jose back? Did anyone else get injured last game? Are they gonna sit Zion again for SGB2B rest? I'll update the thread when we know.

Fingers crossed that all is well and the Pels are ready to go 7-6.

[luckyman]

Yeah cos it's too early to be worrying about momentum and ****.

Jose Alvarado (right ankle sprain) has been upgraded to questionable for tonight's game vs Minnesota.

Zion Williamson (rest) will get the night off on the second night of a back-to-back.

— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) November 18, 2023

[Mrakar]

At this point it is what it is. We need to rest him as injury management or it could end badly again.
Matchup against Wolves is awfull since they are great at rebounding and we suck at it so i didn't expect us to win anyway. Maybe we have better chance without Zion since rest of the team will be motivated to prove themselves.

[Pelicanidae]

Jose questionable is a good sign, hope to see him back on the court. Brings a ton of energy and defensive tenacity at the guard position. Between him, Dyson, and Herb, there should be someone bothering the ball handler all night.

Zion out on SGB2B sucks to see but it's also not a surprise. They're clearly trying to avoid that, and 3 games in 4 night situations, just like other teams have done regularly with stars that have injury histories (Kawhi being the obvious name, but he's not the only one). Don't like it, but I get it.

[As I See It]

I expect better ball movement tonight.

[Fedupfan]

I figured Tractor would sit out tonight. But, I don’t mind more Naji at all.

[JJackisangry]

Alright. We saw some really cool things the other night. I know Z is out but I loved the jumper late and that he took the 3. He made both and he is capable of making those shots. Hopefully a sign of things to come from him. He was also appropriately cautious with his probing and didn’t force it too much. He is learning.

Herb is dynamite.I talk about him the least but he is so reliable and isn’t the focus of our offense so he tends to get less kudos. But he is very important and it’s a shame the defense falls apart without him. Hopefully the other guys pick up the slack if he ever misses time.

JHawk was a steal. He is already playing at a great level for a rookie and works his butt off. I also saw a couple of great passes the other night and he is showing signs as a secondary playmaker. Probably the best thing about our offseason. We got another great player on a rookie deal. Rad

Dyson had some good finishes at the rim. Would like to see him be more consistent as that would make him infinitely more playable if he could just finish his drives. Hopefully the 3 ball comes online as the season goes on.

This game will be really tough. I’m not expecting a win and wouldn’t really be disappointed as long as we come out fully healthy. Would love to compete but I will settle for health. Naji, Herb and Jose (hopefully) may make all the difference this time though. Fingers crossed we have better luck this time

[6warddude]

didnt know zion was out.....i just want to see willie lineups if jose is playing and zion being out.......

[donato]

Every team should sit out their stars on back to backs. Maybe then they would stop scheduling them. A quick Google comes up with: "On average, rested teams have won 51.8% of their games, and a team on a back-to-back has won 43.6% of their games."

[Mrakar]

******** the refs!
I like the intensity so far. It is obvious we don't have enough offensive talent, but the defense is great for now.

[As I See It]

Dyson better not go back to the second unit this year.

Look forward to seeing him play in the Future's game in February.

[Mrakar]

We are playing great but they are hittin 3's...With this kind of play i would expect us to be up 10, however they hit 3 3'3 in like a minute and its only 4pt game.

[As I See It]

Yeah gang, let's package BI and DD for Zach Levine. LMFAO!!!!

[Mrakar]

Full quarter, not a single ISO possession. I don't beleave i'm seeing this :O
Good defense, and by our standards great offense. I'm not sure what happened since that Dallas loss, but we are playing completley different. I wouldn't be mad if we were 4-8 and playing like this, because this is the right way, this is how we need to play.

[Spec3333]

In many ways this team is better without Zion:

-Better defensively with Herb and Dyson on the court together.

- More ball movement when we aren?t playing ISO ball.

- Better perimeter shooting.

[djrnno]

Why are we always playing against the other team AND the incompetent refs?

[JJackisangry]

In many ways this team is better without Zion:

-Better defensively with Herb and Dyson on the court together.

- More ball movement when we aren?t playing ISO ball.

- Better perimeter shooting.

I would say it plays differently. There will be good matchups with him and bad matchups. I think the biggest thing for him is to develop as an offball threat and add that pull-up -3 ball to his repertoire. If he does that, there won’t be a bad matchup

[Mrakar]

Man Cody Zeller is not an NBA player, we need to adress that since Nance is always injured. I would rather have ********ing Dwight Howard over there, then Zeller. He can't do anything...

[Pelicanidae]

I have barely caught any of this game so far because my internet is being absolutely atrocious - the perils of watching games past midnight and having to rely on the NBA App (notoriously awful) or else the equally methods of which we are all aware.

That said, just managed to get about 3 consecutive minutes watched for the first time all game and wanted to shout out Herb for Herbing again.

I said a few games ago that I wouldn't be surprised if he logs a 5x5 at some point. He's played 15 minutes tonight and he has 11/4/4/2/2. It's a real possibility!

[Mrakar]

It's sad that because of injuries we have to play some unplayable players. If Val played instead of Zeller we would have +10 at least right now... I like how we played. We need to limit turnovers in the 2nd half and get our defense from 1st quarter back.
Please not another 3rd quarter meltdown!

[As I See It]

In many ways this team is better without Zion:

-Better defensively with Herb and Dyson on the court together.

- More ball movement when we aren?t playing ISO ball.

- Better perimeter shooting.

You're right. Who would he guard defensively tonight.

- AND -

whoever is guarding him is a seven footer (KAT / Goubert). Heck, McDaniels and Reid are 6'9" apiece.

It's only halftime, but right now we are out-rebounding them by nine.

[JJackisangry]

Man Cody Zeller is not an NBA player, we need to adress that since Nance is always injured. I would rather have ********ing Dwight Howard over there, then Zeller. He can't do anything...

I have absolutely no clue why he was such a high pick. To his credit he works hard and was fighting for the ball but he is painfully mediocre. Shame we lost Willy and Jax

[As I See It]

Man Cody Zeller is not an NBA player, we need to adress that since Nance is always injured. I would rather have ********ing Dwight Howard over there, then Zeller. He can't do anything...

He can do one thing that # 197 can't; he can rebound. Five rebounds in seven minutes ain't shabby against these guys.

[Mrakar]

Herb 4th foul. We can't afford to be in foul trouble. That was not typical for him. Now we again need extended Matt Ryan and Earl-Robinson minutes...not good

[Freyfamilyreuni]

I thought Zeller had an ok half. Hustled got rebounds.