After yet another depressing loss, the Pelicans are now 1-5: good for the worst record in the Western Conference, tied with the Warriors. And since their 1 win came against us, they have the tiebreaker, so we're the 15th seed right now.
Sorry that you all had to hear that.
On a positive note, we found out that Ingram isn't seriously injured and he may even play in this game, which would be good. The fewer guys we can have out, the better.
Tonight we take on the Brooklyn Nets. They're currently 2-4, so I suppose the good news is that they're not dominating everyone, so we at least have a glimmer of a chance. I'm not going to go into too much detail with regards to the Nets, so here's some relevant stats:
Offensive rating: 108.6 (11th in the NBA)
Defensive rating: 109.3 (20th)
Pace: 105.6 (8th)
Rebounds /game: 50.7 (3rd)
Assists /game: 23.2 (15th)
So I guess the troubling stat there is rebounds. We've been getting thoroughly outrebounded regularly. Without Zion and Favors, we're down probably 15+ rebounds a night, and although we've been getting some big performances from certain individuals (Hart's two 15 rebound games spring to mind) that's not the same as continuous, reliable team rebounding.
The way to win this match seems to me to be fairly open: their leading scorer is Kyrie Irving, who is averaging 30.5 points per game. We have multiple high level defensive guards. Please can we use them, this time? If he can be held under his averages (30.5 points, 7.5 assists) then we improve our chances greatly. Aside from that, it's just hoping for Jrue to bounce back offensively, and for the team to start playing defense more reliably.
Unfortunately, the issue for our defense isn't on the perimeter as much as it is on the inside. Without Favors and Zion, and with Hayes still learning the ropes, we don't really have good rim protectors. Okafor is okay at it, he's big, but he has slow feet even with his improved conditioning, and even if Ingram plays, he's at his defensive best when he's using his length to crowd passing lanes and swarm smaller guys, not when he's being asked to try and stop Jarrett Allen and DeAndre Jordan from catching oops.
Let's just hope the team can go out there and do their best, and remember that the Pelicans #WBD.