Quick turnaround after last night's win with another opportunity tonight!
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 25, 2021
🏀 at Milwaukee
🕣 8:30 p.m. CT
📺 @NBAonTNT
📻 100.3 FM @ESPNRadioNOLA @SmoothieKing | #WontBowDown pic.twitter.com/0ONgKdtZsn
Pels pulled off a win against the dreadful Pistons last night at home and now they're on the road against a very different beast: the 19-13 Milwaukee Bucks.
They have won 3 straight after losing their previous 5 straight, which included losses against OKC and Phoenix. During that span they were missing Jrue Holiday: guess what? He's listed doubtful for tonight's game as well. I'll update when it's confirmed if he's playing or not.
Milwaukee is currently ranked 4th in ORtg and 10th in DRtg. While currently disappointing compared to last year's domination, they're still a good team overall and have largely played the season well. That said, we have already beaten them once this season: 131-126 back on January 29th. In that game, Zion had 21/9/7 on 54% from the floor, Lonzo Ball had 27/3/8 on 50/53 splits, and Ingram chipped in a cool 28/0/4 on 47/39/84 too. Bledsoe also shot 7/14 from 3 and finished with 25, as the icing on the cake.
JJ Redick did not play that game.
Meanwhile, the Bucks had a relatively pedestrian game: Khris Middleton in particular struggled hard.
The fact that we only just beat them despite all that means that we cannot come into tonight complacent, especially on the second night of a back to back. Of course, we know that winning tonight is a tall order - that's why it was so vital to wrap up yesterday with a W - but it's not entirely off the table, especially if Jrue ends up missing the game. A third win, this one on the road against another good team, would be a great way to follow up last two games.