Happy Monday! It's game day!
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) November 15, 2021
🏀: vs Washington
🕕: 6pm CST
📺: @BallySportsNO
📻: @ESPNRadioNOLA #Pelicans | @SmoothieKing pic.twitter.com/pmE4Pluimi
Losing streak was snapped last game in a dominant win over Memphis. Led pretty much the entire game, and there was little doubt in things after the first quarter.
Tonight, we face the Washington Wizards. It's an odd one, because on the one hand their 9-3 record is one of the best in the NBA right now, and this is largely driven by a top 5 defense so far this season. Their offense, however - where one might expect them to be better due to their roster - is actually very mediocre, exactly 15th in the NBA, and tonight it's likely to be weaker as they have a plethora of injury issues.
Currently listed on the Wizards injury report are:
- Bradley Beal (out)
- Davis Bertans (out)
- Thomas Bryant (out)
- Rui Hachimura (out)
Obviously the key name there is Beal, who is a lot to lose offensively.
The key for us tonight is going to be 3pt shooting. Opponents currently shoot only 29.5% from 3 against the Wizards - this is by far the lowest against any team in the NBA so far this season. Part of this may be good defense (though, defense quite famously affects if you get 3s off, not really the efficiency of the ones that do go up) but much more likely is at least partly attributed to variance. So the question becomes whether or not we can break their luck and have some shots fall for us tonight. If we can, the Wizards defense - which doesn't generate steals or force turnovers, which has a lot of trouble dealing with pass-heavy offenses, and which is fairly foul prone - will find itself a little stretched. If we can't, then we're in big trouble.
Let's see what happens. Is it 3-12?