Riding hot into 2020, the New Orleans Pelicans are giving fans a lot more reasons to watch, especially with Zion due to debut this month.
The New Orleans Pelicans are playing their basketball of the season and that’s about as good of news as this team can have heading into the new year, or so they thought.
Granted, the team probably wishes they started with a little more consistency than they’ve had up to this point, plummeting to the bottom of the West.
However, since they spelled their 13-game losing streak with a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Pelicans have become a significantly better basketball team, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
Since the losing streak was snapped, the Pelicans have jumped to 11-23, winning five of their last six and take a four-game winning streak into the next decade.
The wins aren’t coming the easy way either, as the New Orleans Pelicans posted wins over solid Western Conference opponents including the Portland Trail Blazers and Houston Rockets, in addition to a dominant win over a very solid Indiana Pacers team.
It helps that the team is really starting to see Lonzo Ball get comfortable as the team’s leading point guard, while E’Twaun Moore is drilling threes in impressive minutes off the bench. Overall, Alvin Gentry’s defensive focus and in-game adjustments are starting to push his team to victory.
While the team used the first pick in the 2019 NBA Draft to bring Zion Williamson to New Orleans, he has yet to appear on a basketball court since his preseason right knee injury… until he made his first appearance back in a Pelicans practice uniform yesterday.
Gentry Zion Williamson was able to go through a full practice today. First time since his surgery.
— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) January 2, 2020
Seeming due back for a return halfway through this month, the introduction of the star rookie could be enough to push this Pelicans team from the bottom of the pack to leading the bunch sometime over the next stretch of weeks.
Heading into January, there’s a lot to look forward to from the New Orleans Pelicans. Hopefully, the team keeps finding ways to beat quality opponents, which they’ll see plenty of over the next month of the season.