24th January - New Orleans Pelicans vs Denver Nuggets - 17-28
So it finally happened! We got our first game out of Zion last game versus the Spurs, and while it wasn't all sunshine all game long (we lost, just for example) we definitely got a glimpse of why everyone's so excited about Zion in the first place. That scoring burst was incredible, and while he was much less impactful in his first few stints in the game, there's understandable reasons for all of that. We look onwards and upwards to see what comes next.
Exactly what comes next is the Denver Nuggets, who are currently 30-14. Despite their stellar record though, the Nuggets aren't exactly a juggernaut right now: they've gone 6-4 in their last 10 games, which is good but not incredible. Further, this includes losses to Washington and Cleveland, along with an extremely narrow 3 point win over Golden State and a strangely close encounter with Minnesota. That is to say, Denver are not untouchable right now. Given that we've already beaten them this year by 15 points way back in October, and again by 12 on Christmas, we seem to match up well with them.
Here's the injury report:Hart and Redick listed as probable
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) January 23, 2020
Zion removed from injury report heading into Friday's game vs the Nuggets:
Story: https://t.co/UJSwIKhjzu#Pelicans | @MorrisBartLLC pic.twitter.com/HbgthAKB3X
Denver are a solid team though, overall. They're 10th in ORtg and 12th in DRtg, which is pretty good. Part of the reason we match up so well with them is their pace: they're 29th in the NBA, almost as slow as it gets this year, and running them hard shows tangible problems with their transition game. Denver are 11th in FG% overall, and they are not a great 3pt shooting team: they shoot the 3rd fewest 3s per game, and only hit at the 21st best accuracy; 34.6%. So what are they good at, and how do they have a 10th ranked offense if they can't shoot? Simple: offensive rebounds, a lot of assists, and a super low turnover rate.
They turn it over at the 6th lowest rate in the NBA, all while making the 4th most assists and grabbing the 6th most offensive boards. They got a lot of second chances, they share the ball, and they don't beat themselves by throwing possessions away. Luckily, there is an extent to which this translates into a straightforward gameplan: we need to take the defensive glass seriously, crowd passing lanes, and be aware of cutters by staying on the man and being vocal defensively regarding switches and motion. If someone moves off-ball, Jokic will find them; so don't let them move without being stifled.
Other than that, it's just a case of trying to be a little more sensible with lineups than we were against San Antonio (there's no need to play 12 different guys before half-time, come on) and maybe attempt to maintain more floor balance. Last game, Zion didn't play a single minute with JJ Redick; maybe tonight we can give that a shot.
Looking for a little more aggression from Zion tonight, as well as a bounce-back game for Jrue and Ingram.
Let's go and get this win, and make up for the loss we should never have taken last game. #WBD
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Originally Posted by AUSSIE_PELICAN
