The injury bug is back for the New Orleans Pelicans. Anthony Davis and E’Twaun Moore are now both battling health issues alongside Jrue Holiday.
In last night’s loss against the Toronto Raptors, you might have noticed a New Orleans Pelicans roster that seemed thinner than usual. Shortly before the game, the Pelicans announced that both Anthony Davis and E’Twaun Moore would miss the matchup with Kawhi Leonard and the Raps. Here’s the report on Moore:
The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that guard E’Twaun Moore suffered a recurrent left quadriceps contusion during Wednesday night’s game against the Utah Jazz. Moore will be re-evaluated in 7-10 days.
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) March 8, 2019
📰: https://t.co/IoW6pm9nFQ pic.twitter.com/yAiJ73gumo
For E’Twaun, this is an injury he’s already dealt with during the current season, and it’s held him out of several games before. His 7-10 day timetable for re-evaluation is the same one that the Pelicans gave for Jrue Holiday’s new injury a day before.
Just before tipoff last night, we also learned that Anthony Davis would sit as well:
Injury Update: Anthony Davis (lower back spasms) will not play tonight
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) March 9, 2019
Clearly, this is not a serious issue for Anthony Davis, as there is no mentioned need for re-evaluation. He could easily be back on the court the next time the Pelicans play. However, it’s hard not to speculate a bit about this particular injury to Anthony Davis given the context of his situation.
If Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans are on the same page, both parties may finally have come to terms on Davis sitting out the rest of the season to keep him healthy before he’s traded away this summer. The lower back spasms aren’t serious, but are the sort of thing the team could keep reporting in order to keep Davis on the bench for the final stretch of games in the 2018-2019 campaign. Again, this is speculation, but not totally unreasonable.
If Davis does miss more time, the absence of him, Moore, and Holiday gives the young guys more chances to prove themselves. Look for players like Jahlil Okafor, Kenrich Williams, Cheick Diallo, and Frank Jackson to try to take advantage of this opportunity. Julius Randle will probably continue to get more and more shots up as well.
Hopefully we’ll see E’Twaun Moore, Jrue Holiday, and Anthony Davis (if that’s what the team wants) back in action soon. As these situations develop, keep checking in with Pelican Debrief to stay up to date on everything.