Pelica Debrief
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New Orleans Pelicans headed to San Antonio for fourth preseason game

By Willie Lutz

NEW ORLEANS, LA - October 11: Brandon Ingram #14 of the New Orleans Pelicans high fives his teammates during a pre-season game against the Utah Jazz on October 11, 2019 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - October 11: Brandon Ingram #14 of the New Orleans Pelicans high fives his teammates during a pre-season game against the Utah Jazz on October 11, 2019 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Headed back on the road for their penultimate game of the preseason, the New Orleans Pelicans are set to take on the San Antonio Spurs this afternoon.

The New Orleans Pelicans are winding down exhibition play and are headed towards the tip of the regular season. This afternoon against the San Antonio Spurs, the Pelicans will get their second straight chance to see a team that made the Western Conference Playoffs a season ago.

So far, the preseason has led way to a lot more Zion Williamson chatter, as the 6’6″ rookie forward is shooting 66.7% from the field and averaging 23.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists through three games.

Today, the rookie will have to go to work against another quality frontcourt, this one headlined by LaMarcus Aldridge, but will also see DeMar DeRozan slide over as an even-sized defender.

Both DeRozan and Alridge can make an unattentive defender pay and give the offense players spells.

Scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. CT tip from the AT&T Center in San Antonio Texas, the two teams will have to combat the NFL Sunday slate of games, which might draw eyes away from a potentially really solid preseason basketball contest.

New Orleans will only have two more games to check-out young players within their rotation, which is why today could be a big game for Jaxson Hayes and Nicolò Melli.

Early in the Pels’ preseason, Hayes suffered a light injury that ended up hampering his minutes throughout the schedule. After scoring 6 points and looking good against the Utah Jazz, it would be fair for Alvin Gentry to trot the rim-runner out against a weaker center group featuring Jakob Pöltl and Drew Eubanks, plus maybe some Aldridge.

Melli has been impressive for the New Orleans Pelicans’ bench and looks like he’ll be in the rotation this season. However, it would be positive for his minutes to increase his three-point percentage from 25%, which is a team-low for a player with at least one make this preseason.

Hayes and Melli have both shown impressive traits on the basketball court, now it’s just a matter of how effective they can be for their full time in the rotation.

San Antonio’s young set of guards will test the New Orleans Pelicans

After facing a formidable backcourt with Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley from Utah, the Pelicans will once again be tested by a trio of talented young guards empowered to cause chaos by Gregg Popovich.

While their guards don’t make them a clear playoff team, they do add a lot of game planning to the typical work weak of NBA coaches.

Three young guards, Dejounte Murray, Derrick White, and Lonnie Walker IV are the X-Factors for San Antonio this season.

All three suffered injuries early in their careers. Murray missed 44 games during his rookie season, though he appeared in all 82 a year ago. White missed 65 games his rookie year and 15 last year. Walker also missed 65 games as a rookie before returning for the Spurs’ playoff birth.

While the three have been limited by injuries, the three uber-talented guards could give San Antonio a special position group going forward. They all have a diverse enough skillset not to be redundant.

All three have done impressive things in Summer League, plus Murray averaged 8.1 points with 5.7 rebounds and White averaged 9.9 points with 3.9 assists per game during the regular season.

Jrue Holiday is expected to return to the New Orleans Pelicans’ starting five tonight, after missing Friday’s game against Utah with a left leg contusion. He’ll play a big factor in the Pelicans’ ability to defend the young Spurs guards.

While San Antonio is mixing up their own backcourt, the Pelicans have their own young x-factor to go alongside Holiday and Lonzo Ball.

Starting hot this preseason, Nickeil Alexander-Walker is looking to keep his preseason roll going against San Antonio. Alexander-Walker ranked fifth among rookie scorers this preseason, averaging 15.7 points in the first three games.

Alexander-Walker’s ability to lead an offense has been encouraging as well, as he’s averaged 4 assists per game, but set up teammates well throughout the preseason. He was huge in the clutch in the team’s win over the Chicago Bulls.

How well New Orleans is able to contain, or at least play-at-the-pace of the San Antonio guards will be key to this afternoon’s outcome. If they’re able to control the effect of those guys, the Pelicans will have a really good chance to stifle the Spurs on the road.

Next. How far could Zion's reign spread in year one?. dark

Heading into Sunday afternoon’s game, the New Orleans Pelicans hold a 3-0 record in preseason action and have looked sharp for such a young, unfamiliar team. With the San Antonio Spurs being one of the mainstays in the Western Conference Playoff picture, this game will be yet another really good gauge of how far along this team is headed into the 2019-2020 NBA season.

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