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Thread: 24th January - New Orleans Pelicans vs Denver Nuggets - 17-28

  1. #1

    Pelicans 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:

    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
    Basketball.

  2. #2
    RIP BDJ AUSSIE_PELICAN's Avatar
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    Denver injury report:

    Questionable: Gary Harris, M Porter
    Out: M Plumlee, J Murray, P Millsap

  3. #3
    Yeah I think the bigger story is Denver has been hit with the injury bug over the last few weeks.

    Too bad... don't care after what the Pelicans have gone through for years.

    Really need this W.

  4. #4
    Think Favors will be a good match up for the joker. He might be pissed from missing out on ASG!

    MPJ is going to want to show out vs Zion, but looks like hes got back issues again.

    Should be a huge game with another mad crowd at home!

  5. #5
    The Franchise DarkHornet's Avatar
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    With Zion's first game out of the way, hopefully all of the jitters for him and his teammates have been gotten out of their system. Denver's very shorthanded tonight, so, for once, I expect us to have the depth advantage. We've got to take advantage, as this is a very winnable game. I hope we get to see Ingram back to his average All Star self, and for Gentry to find some stability with the rotations. We need this win.

  6. #6
    Snarky Optimistic Guy msusousaphone's Avatar
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    It's like I am weirdly both confident because of how we've played them this season and with their injuries but then also worried because they are a good team and it seems like a good team can only be owned for so long before they get you back.
    BI, Zion, and CJ had a net rating of +3 when on the court together. BI and Zion had a +13.4, BI and CJ had a +13.2, Zion and CJ was just +5.4.

    BI and Zion worked. BI and CJ worked. It was CJ and Zion and all three together that didn't work.

  7. #7
    The Franchise Creative's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by AUSSIE_PELICAN View Post
    Denver injury report:

    Questionable: Gary Harris, M Porter
    Out: M Plumlee, J Murray, P Millsap
    This is HUGE for us. We need this win badly.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by msusousaphone View Post
    It's like I am weirdly both confident because of how we've played them this season and with their injuries but then also worried because they are a good team and it seems like a good team can only be owned for so long before they get you back.
    That's my view on it as well. I'm going into it with fair confidence because of all those reasons + our own health, but it's nothing close to a gimme.

  9. #9
    Snarky Optimistic Guy msusousaphone's Avatar
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    The other bipolar aspect of this game that interests me is that, looking at it on paper, this game isn't a must win by any stretch. We are 11-6 in our past 17 games, so even with a loss we are trending upwards. We aren't competing with Denver (especially if they win) unless they have a giant collapse plus, when looking at our cupcake remaining schedule, this was one of the games we penciled in as a possible loss.

    But emotionally it feels like it would be devastating. Zion returning to this surging team in a home stand.....the world watching us....more hype than NOLA has ever seen.....to follow that blue ball inducing Spurs loss with ANOTHER home loss would be like a gut punch. And not just to us fans but it seems like the players would be impacted by that. It feels like a must win.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by msusousaphone View Post
    The other bipolar aspect of this game that interests me is that, looking at it on paper, this game isn't a must win by any stretch. We are 11-6 in our past 17 games, so even with a loss we are trending upwards. We aren't competing with Denver (especially if they win) plus, when looking at our cupcake remaining schedule, this was one of the games we penciled on as a possible loss.

    But emotionally it feels like it would be devastating. Zion returning to this surging team in a home stand.....the world watching us....more hype than NOLA has ever seen.....to follow that blue ball inducing Spurs loss with ANOTHER home loss would feel like a gut punch. And not just to us fans but it seems like the players would be impacted by that. It feels like a must win.
    It feels like a must win because even if it, in isolation, isn't, it's following a game that really was must-win, that we lost. So everything you say is true, you have to also add the fact that we're basically down one win that we should have. Like you said, we're 11-6 in our past 17 games, and that's trending upwards overall and therefore this individual, single game isn't that vital. But if you use that thought process when approaching every game, then you're trending upwards until you're suddenly not because you've been letting games slip away. We can't afford to lose tons of games.

  11. #11
    Murray is out. No excuses.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Taker597 View Post
    Murray is out. No excuses.
    Agree. Also no excuses for missing a free throw even if the home crowd is chanting for the star player.

    This is not Tennis!

  13. #13
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    After throwing away last game need to win this

    Cant be throwing winnable home games away

  14. #14
    Zion vs Jokic will be fun to see. Two of the most fit basketball players in the league.

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by HoustonRox View Post
    Zion vs Jokic will be fun to see. Two of the most fit basketball players in the league.
    How does that 2-5 in the last 7 games feel like? Awesome?




    Tonight does still count a bit. It's a conference game. Conference record is a tie breaker.

  16. #16
    Hall of Famer kidjock24's Avatar
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    I'm so ready for Zion Part II

  17. #17
    One thing that is encouraging is, if you listed to the latest Woj pod with Griffin, he sounded genuinely pissed that they lost to the Spurs. He really wanted to win that game.

    He also sounds like he's done with the losing and wants the team to get on a run here. Griffin's tone just really sounded different like the playtime feel good is over.

  18. #18
    Snarky Optimistic Guy msusousaphone's Avatar
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    I'll be on delay. Starting it after I get six kids to bed. See you fellas on the otherside.


  19. #19
    20+ years of pain ragincaucasian's Avatar
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    69% from three? lol

  20. #20
    20+ years of pain ragincaucasian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Taker597 View Post
    Murray is out. No excuses.

  21. #21
    20+ years of pain ragincaucasian's Avatar
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    Why is slow Ingram bringing the ball up? He is killing our fast breaks.

  22. #22
    20+ years of pain ragincaucasian's Avatar
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    So it looks like the Jeckyll and Hyde with Jrue again.

    This is 2 Hyde games in a row....

  23. #23
    20+ years of pain ragincaucasian's Avatar
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    Lonzo is single handedly keeping us in it.

  24. #24
    Not even 10 minutes in and Nuggets have 7 offensive rebounds (Pels...1).

    HELLO!!!!

  25. #25
    20+ years of pain ragincaucasian's Avatar
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    The last minute of the 1st quarter has been an absolute COMEDY of errors!

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