Eric Gordon returning soon to bolster Pelicans playoff run
When Eric Gordon went out of the lineup on November 22 with a torn labrum in his left shoulder it seemed possible that the Pelicans playoff hopes went with him. After all the team was facing down one of the toughest schedules in basketball and on a team already lacking depth taking away one piece of one of the NBA’s best lineups was a big deal.
Somehow though the Pelicans have survived by stealing some wins against teams playing on back-to-backs and winning games behind the otherworldly play of Anthony Davis and now they look like they will have Gordon returning soon according to NOLA.com.
"“Sunday I’ll be able to practice,” he said. “The main thing is just getting through a practice and going through the bumps there. How I feel is if you are able to practice, you should be able to get through a game.”"
Obviously adding Gordon back into the lineup is a big deal. The Pelicans starting lineup of Jrue Holiday, Gordon, Tyreke Evans, Anthony Davis and Omer Asik ranks as the seventh best lineup that has played over 100 minutes in the NBA this season according to net rating. That group has also been the one lineup that has defended the best for the Pelicans this season, posting a 98.3 defensive rating in 145 minutes.
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While asking that group to defend that well over the rest of the year seems a stretch Gordon’s return should improve things from where they are now.Gordon has held his own defensively this season thanks to his strength, holding opposing shooting guards to just a 45.6 effective field goal percentage and a 13.6 PER according to 82games.com. The move also pushes Evans down to small forward where he is an upgrade over the defensively challenged Babbitt.
Offensively Gordon should also help the Pelicans more than his numbers would show. Despite Gordon’s poor shooting numbers this year (39.8 percent from the field) he was actually shooting fairly well from behind the three-point arc at 34.1 percent. Gordon adds the ability to attack defenders that are closing out too hard though, something that Babbitt is not capable of doing.
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Gordon’s return should also bolster the Pelicans bench as it allows Monty Williams more flexibility with his rotations. At the moment Williams typically uses five bench players at the same time to start the second and fourth quarters meaning John Salmons is getting important minutes. With Gordon returning Williams can manage his rotations to have either Gordon or Evans taking Salmons spot in those minutes to give the team an offensive cog on the perimeter to pair with Ryan Anderson. By doing so Williams should be able to buy a few extra minutes for the other closers on the bench keeping them as fresh as possible for the final few minutes of a close game.
Eric Gordon was always going to be a big part of the Pelicans success of failures this season. When Gordon was playing it seemed like his lackluster numbers were hurting the Pelicans more than helping but as we have seen lately the Pelicans very much need Gordon to hit their top potential. With his return getting closer and closer by the day the Pelicans could be in the perfect position to make a harder charge than anyone expected at the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs.