January 2nd - New Orleans Pelicans VS Toronto Raptors - 3-2

[Pelicanidae]

Welcome to Game 1 of 2021, let's hope it goes well.

Coming in, we are 3-2 after already playing some tough teams: Miami and Toronto were both elite teams last year, and Phoenix has come out of the gate 4-1, looking to carry on their success from the bubble. To be above .500 despite that, as well as the fact that 4 of our 5 games have been on the road, I think is pretty good. This is especially the case when you consider the struggles we've had offensively thus far: of course, it's still incredibly early, but we're a bottom 10 offense right now and one of the worst shooting teams in the NBA.

Tonight, we take on the Raptors again, but this time we're at home and they're on the road. Raptors are currently 0-2 on the road, and only 1-3 on the season so far. With any luck, we'll be able to take advantage of their early season struggles (which are also, coincidentally, largely offensive) and add another win to our tally. So far this year the Raptors have had one defining problem: what to do when Lowry sits? When he's on the floor, they're a good offensive team; when he's sitting, they are excruciatingly poor. As in, his on/off so far is +33.1; Toronto has a 73.9 ORtg when Lowry is on the bench. Now of course, we're still talking very small sample sizes at this point so it's probably not actually quite that bad, but they have struggled.

We had a small resurgence last game with our own offense, shooting relatively well from outside (about 36%, which is a bright light compared to the prior three games) and some life being shown by both Bledsoe and Ball when it comes to halfcourt offense, so fingers crossed that this continues and we see our offense start to match up to our defense.

Happy New Year; let's get a win for it.

[Nola3]

Hahaha I forget about your time difference. This threw me off for a second

[Pelicanidae]

Hahaha I forget about your time difference. This threw me off for a second

It's kind of awkward, I'm always unsure about which date to put because of course, games here show up as being on different days than they ''actually'' are. I always just go for the date ESPN lists, to remove my own subjective position.

[Taker597]

Brehhhh... These Saints and consistently imploding right at the post season.

[Impose]

Pretty sure both Zion and Ingram are going to be locked in after that OKC game. And JJ is due for a hot night. Could be a demolition. Here's hoping.

[Taker597]

Pretty sure both Zion and Ingram are going to be locked in after that OKC game. And JJ is due for a hot night. Could be a demolition. Here's hoping.

I'm really curious how Toronto will adjust since facing them last time. Seeing them dropping 1-4 is pretty tough.

[Impose]

I'm really curious how Toronto will adjust since facing them last time. Seeing them dropping 1-4 is pretty tough.

Raps are going to be out for revenge and will be pretty desperate for a win. I think they'll keep hard doubling Zion like last time. Might see them attack the rim often early and see if they can get one of Zion or Adams 2 quick fouls and exploit our weak bigs rotation. Aside from that they'll probably back themselves to shoot better than last time and live with our average shooters taking spot ups off Zion passing out of double teams.

[Taker597]

Raps are going to be out for revenge and will be pretty desperate for a win. I think they'll keep hard doubling Zion like last time. Might see them attack the rim often early and see if they can get one of Zion or Adams 2 quick fouls and exploit our weak bigs rotation. Aside from that they'll probably back themselves to shoot better than last time and live with our average shooters taking spot ups off Zion passing out of double teams.

Probably see them pack the paint and baiting our guards to shoot deep with open looks. Live or die by how well Bledsoe and Lonzo shoot.

[ragincaucasian]

Bold predictions for 2021:

Jaxson Hayes will rebound and play D like Rodman for the rest of the year.

Lonzo will be consistent every game with 17/7/7. 34% from 3.

Melli will not look terrified and clueless every time he touches the ball, and will not immediately look to pass it away like a hot potato.

Didi Louzada will be called up and look like Reggie Miller in his prime.

[hornetzplaya]

Bold predictions for 2021:

Jaxson Hayes will rebound and play D like Rodman for the rest of the year.

Lonzo will be consistent every game with 17/7/7. 34% from 3.

Melli will not look terrified and clueless every time he touches the ball, and will not immediately look to pass it away like a hot potato.

Didi Louzada will be called up and look like Reggie Miller in his prime.

Imma need a fat bottle of whiskey if the first two on that list actually happens.

[BigChris504]

Bold predictions for 2021:

Jaxson Hayes will rebound and play D like Rodman for the rest of the year.

Lonzo will be consistent every game with 17/7/7. 34% from 3.

Melli will not look terrified and clueless every time he touches the ball, and will not immediately look to pass it away like a hot potato.

Didi Louzada will be called up and look like Reggie Miller in his prime.

Didi playing like Reggie Miller might be the most likely prediction out of the four, Respectfully.

[Pelicanidae]

Bold predictions for 2021:

Jaxson Hayes will rebound and play D like Rodman for the rest of the year.

Lonzo will be consistent every game with 17/7/7. 34% from 3.

Melli will not look terrified and clueless every time he touches the ball, and will not immediately look to pass it away like a hot potato.

Didi Louzada will be called up and look like Reggie Miller in his prime.

Well...

You did say bold, in fairness.

[JJackisangry]

We can’t come out flat. That much is sure. Raptors are going to be a bit desperate here.

[luckyman]

Brutal opening schedule. Indiana next. Hovering around .500 is a great thing.

In other news Saddiq Bey got his first start for Detroit and looked real good. In a W over Boston no less.

[Taker597]

We can’t come out flat. That much is sure. Raptors are going to be a bit desperate here.

I don't think its about coming out flat. It's just depends if we can weather the storm like we did last time.

[Taker597]

Brutal opening schedule. Indiana next. Hovering around .500 is a great thing.

In other news Saddiq Bey got his first start for Detroit and looked real good. In a W over Boston no less.

That was actually a very fun gane. I caught the later half and he put on a good showing. His 3pt shoot was nice in that game.

I'm not a big fan of being hyper critical of rookies because that's like old man Simpson yelling at the clouds. So, some people would find to argue that he didn't have the best game outside of making points. I just stick to good game or bad game... It thought it was a pretty good gane for a 1st start.

A lot of people have low expectations with this draft, but you can see a few gem shining with extremely limited minutes.

[hornetzplaya]

That was actually a very fun gane. I caught the later half and he put on a good showing. His 3pt shoot was nice in that game.

I'm not a big fan of being hyper critical of rookies because that's like old man Simpson yelling at the clouds. So, some people would find to argue that he didn't have the best game outside of making points. I just stick to good game or bad game... It thought it was a pretty good gane for a 1st start.

A lot of people have low expectations with this draft, but you can see a few gem shining with extremely limited minutes.

Well of course is a small sample size but I got destroyed for wanting Saddiq with our pick back in the draft threads. Still we have a whole season to go so imma keep this to a minimum.

[Pels4Life]

im hype...lets gooo!

[luckyman]

Well of course is a small sample size but I got destroyed for wanting Saddiq with our pick back in the draft threads. Still we have a whole season to go so imma keep this to a minimum.

He had the 2nd most rebounds for his team that game and only committed one foul. But apparently the only thing he did well was score. On very high efficiency. Lol

Looking forward to NAW producing against his home team.

[Taker597]

I don't know about you guys, but I'd personally not feel Houston is a good match up for us at all on paper.

Sa, Mavs, and Memphis are alright. I think we can impose our will on them.

[hornetzplaya]

I don't know about you guys, but I'd personally not feel Houston is a good match up for us at all on paper.

Sa, Mavs, and Memphis are alright. I think we can impose our will on them.

I wouldn't be so sure with a fully healthy Memphis team. They're gonna be scary

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[Pelicanidae]

I always hate when you get multiple offensive boards and nothing comes of it

[Pelicanidae]

Adams takes the o-board, passes out, splash from Ingram

[Pelicanidae]

Great hockey assist from Zion. Collapsed the D, drew three defenders, passed out to Bledsoe who just moved it along to Lonzo.

[Pelicanidae]

Kyle Lowry lives to draw charges