The 5 must-watch New Orleans Pelicans, Zion games coming in January
By Willie Lutz
New Orleans Pelicans @ Los Angeles Lakers – Friday, January 3 @ 9:30 p.m. CT (ESPN)
Tonight, the New Orleans Pelicans will get the chance to redeem their Thanksgiving-eve loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, owners of both LeBron James and the exported Anthony Davis. Last time these two went toe-to-toe, Davis made an impressive leap to deflect a New Orleans inbound pass with under a minute left to seal a win in regulation.
While the Lakers left the Big Easy with a 114-110 win, the Pelicans got 23 points and 10 rebounds out of Brandon Ingram, who will be motivated to return to face his former team in the Staples Center tonight.
Against the Lakers, Jrue Holiday posted his best game of the season so far, scoring 29 points, 12 assists, and 6 rebounds while playing tremendous defense on his former running mate in Davis.
The Lakers are currently first in the Western Conference at 27-7, but New Orleans is surging and seem to be focused on pursuing the eighth seed that’s just 3.5 games away from their control. If the New Orleans Pelicans can take advantage of the one week spot on this Lakers roster, their lack of guard depth, Holiday, Lonzo Ball and J.J. Redick could fuel an upset.
New Orleans Pelicans @ Boston Celtics – Saturday, January 11 @ 6 p.m. CT
In a little over a week, the New Orleans Pelicans play the middle game of a three-game Eastern Conference road trip against the Boston Celtics, who at 23-8 currently stand as the second-overall playoff seed.
Currently ranking fourth in offensive and third in defensive rating, the Celtics might be one of the biggest tests New Orleans will see before returning Zion to action (though who knows, he could be back by then if everything goes great).
Giving an extra edge to this game, the Celtics once engaged the Pelicans about a potential Davis swap, which assumes the team would’ve offered one or both of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to New Orleans; it’ll be interesting to see how the Pelicans’ trade package players from the Lakers perform against the young Celtics wings.
Further, Ingram and Brown were picked with the second and third selections, respectively, in the 2019 NBA Draft, plus were both named Player of the Week in their conference just a few days ago.
Boston's Jaylen Brown and New Orleans' Brandon Ingram were just named East and West Player of the Week by the NBA
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) December 30, 2019
While the New Orleans and New England fan bases are likely to be focused on football-related aspects of their cities’ athletic clubs, these two teams are certain to make for interesting competition in their first of two pairings this year.
In what could be one of Zion’s first games as a member of the Pelicans, the team will be tested by their matchup against one of the more effective two-way teams in the league.
LA Clippers @ New Orleans Pelicans – Saturday, January 18 @ 2:30 p.m. CT
One week after they play the Celtics, the Pelicans head back home to face a front runner from their own conference, but it’s a team with even more star power. Currently standing 25-11, tied for second place in the West, and just three games out of first place, the LA Clippers are one of the true juggernauts in the league.
While the Pelicans took down the Clippers last time they came to the Smoothie King Center by a 132-127 score, it was Paul George‘s first game with that team and Kawhi Leonard was out for the night to manage his load.
Last time the two squared off, however, New Orleans took a beat-down in Los Angeles, as Montrezl Harrell posted 34 points and 12 rebounds in just 28 minutes. The Pelicans took a 109-134 loss
Continuing their defensive resurgence with the return of Derrick Favors, who played in the first but missed the second of the two battles, the New Orleans Pelicans rank eighth in the league with a 105.5 defensive rating since his return to action. Favors has a 129 offensive and 102 defensive rating, so his presence will certainly be crucial to helping the Pelicans compete in this battle.