New Orleans Pelicans: The Zion vs. Luka Rivalry Begins

We’re looking back at the  New Orleans Pelicans’ most important games from the season so far. On tap today, the first duel between Zion and Luka.

When the New Orleans Pelicans went to Dallas in early March, no one could have guessed the team would only play three more games before the NBA was put on hold.

The four games between New Orleans and Dallas were must-see TV after the Pelicans drafted Zion Williamson and traded for Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart. The first three of those games between the teams were just awful for New Orleans as the franchise suffered their worst ever regular-season loss against Dallas in December.

While Luka Doncic put up dazzling performances in those games, something was missing. Zion did not play after having surgery on his knee before the season. That was not the case on this night, the first duel between the young stars would take center stage.

We got all we could ask for and more in this one. All of the big names put up stat lines that make you check them a second time to make sure your eyes didn’t lie to you. The fans in the stands got a free period of basketball as well when this game headed to overtime.

The New Orleans Pelicans and Dallas Mavericks are two of the best offenses in the league, averaging a shade over 116 points per game this season, 116.2 and 116.4 respectively.

The similarities between New Orleans and Dallas go further than just total points per game. They both shoot 46.2% from the field and are only fractions apart when it comes to hitting the three-ball (37.2% for New Orleans and 36.9% for Dallas).

Both teams get to the same points in very different styles though. The Pelicans are a run and gun ball movement team, playing at the second-fastest pace in the league. The Mavericks are a slow methodical pick and roll centric team that is more middle of the pack with the 13th slowest pace.

But it’s not just points per game and shooting percentage where these teams align, both average 47 rebounds per game. The Pelicans average just 2.5 more assists per game than the Mavericks (27 vs 24.5) and the blocks between both teams are close, 5.1 for New Orleans, and 5.0 for Dallas.

It’s no surprise that this game, now that Zion was back, was a close contest. The future matchups with Dallas and New Orleans will be circled on the calendar for the next few years.

This was the first time that Zion would play in a back-to-back after the Pelicans lost to Minnesota in New Orleans the night before. This was a stretch of four games in six days for New Orleans, and the injuries for the team were adding up again.

Just as it seemed the injury bug was finally going to leave the Pelicans alone, J.J. Redick was lost to a strained hamstring. That injury would likely have cost Redick at least two weeks, what could have been another derailing injury turned out not to matter very much as the league would pause just a week later.

This game showed what the best version of either team could look like. The dynamic duo of Luka and Kristaps Porzingis both putting up at least 30 points while the role players chipped in to help when needed. Seth Curry in particular relieved pressure off Luka and KP by scoring 21 points behind going 6 of 9 from three.

The Pelicans, on the other hand, were more of a rising tide lifting all boats situation. Three Pelicans went for more than 20 points (Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Zion) while Jrue Holiday just missed out with his 19 points.