Pelica Debrief
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Best Pairings on the New Orleans Pelicans’ Roster

By Tim Burke

Zion Williamson #1 and Lonzo Ball #2 of the New Orleans Pelicans would have to earn it more in The Last Dance era (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Zion Williamson #1 and Lonzo Ball #2 of the New Orleans Pelicans would have to earn it more in The Last Dance era (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) /
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New Orleans Pelicans, Jrue Holiday
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – MARCH 03: Jrue Holiday #11 of the New Orleans Pelicans (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /

Best Pairings on the Pelicans

To find the best pairing on the roster I went to basketball reference and used their Lineup Finder tool. After setting the criteria to find 2-man lineups for the entire season who had played equal to or greater than 25 possessions together, I had my list. (We want to use entire season results as individual game results can be fluky as far as plus/minus is concerned.)

Some key takeaways before we get into the list.

  • Zion’s impact in 19 games is incredible, he’s on the list four times (tied for the most).
  • Health has been a major factor for the Pelicans this year; no pairing played in more than 75% of the teams’ games this season.

Statistics often reveal surprising facts about a team, and some of these duos were very much unexpected.

Without further adieu, here’s the Pelicans top 10 duos from this season starting with numbers 10 and nine.

Number 10

Lonzo Ball and Jrue Holiday

This duo has played 962 minutes together across 47 games this season and posted a +63 net rating. Not a bad showing from one of the best defensive backcourts of the NBA, but both players need to get more consistent offensively for the team to improve.

Related Story. Ranking the Top-Ten Backcourts in the NBA. light

Number 9

Jrue Holiday and Brandon Ingram

These two played the most minutes together of any duo on this list at 1,260.9 minutes in 48 games, and had a net rating of +68. The NBA is about wings and this duo needs to get better if the Pelicans are going to get better next year.

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