Not everything has gone to plan out of the gate for the New Orleans Pelicans, but there are still plenty of reasons for optimism amidst a slow opening.
The New Orleans Pelicans dreamed of the playoffs when they give comments on media day, but have now picked up the speed, getting their record 4-9 to start the 2019-2020 NBA season.
Last night, the team picked up a victory lacking a lot of their key players, one that would’ve really hurt to lose nevertheless.
Playing with heart (but without Josh Hart), the team out-dueled the league-worst Golden State Warriors 108-100 on Sunday night in New Orleans. The Warriors fell to 2-12 after the loss, extending their losing streak to seven straight games.
The team was boosted in large part due to strong nights from key veterans in J.J. Redick (26 points) and Jrue Holiday (22 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds).
Even as they continue to look for a clear path towards consistency, this team is showing plenty of positives through its cracks. After all, this team has done a nice job turning a 1-7 start into something positive pretty early in the campaign.
While they’ve had a tough schedule in the outset, games are starting to bounce in the New Orleans Pelicans’ direction.
Seemingly, this team could be a five-game winning streak away from getting right back to where they were expected to be by some at the beginning of the season.
Lacking Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Jahlil Okafor, Derrick Favors, and Frank Jackson on Sunday, with J.J. Redick joining that same list on Saturday, this Pelicans team battled serious injury losses to play robust basketball this weekend.
This team doesn’t look as far from the playoff picture as they did even last week, something that’s helped by the New Orleans Pelicans being able to take home victories in three of their last five contests, two of which came against playoff teams a season ago (Warriors & LA Clippers).
Head coach Alvin Gentry is seemingly starting to find the right mix with his New Orleans Pelicans bunch, really starting to nail down rotations and put players in positions to succeed.
Granted, they still have work left to do once their arsenal of injured key men gets back on the floor. This nice run of games means less if they can’t make it last with the main cast.
Overall, there is a lot of reasons to feel positive about this Pelicans team. Growing pains were always going to be a part of the formula. Once the big cast of injured Pelicans comes back into the frame, there’s going to be more experimenting.