New Orleans Pelicans: Largest Win Against a Rival in Orlando

We’re looking back at some of the most important games from the season so far. On tap today, a matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans’ newest rival.

When the New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies jumped to the top of the 2019 NBA draft last summer, few could have expected both to be fighting for a playoff spot so soon.

Both teams had just a six percent chance to land the top spot and with the way the lottery works, the three worst teams are almost guaranteed to draft in the top five. For both to land in the top two was a minor miracle.

And both teams were treated to quite the prizes for their luck, Zion Williamson and Ja Morant, two college standouts whose highlights jumped off the screen. The craziest part of both players going that high is that they both played on the same AAU team and neither was the star player on that team.

Zion went on to be a national sensation in his lone year at Duke, his popularity was so great that President Obama went to Durham, North Carolina to see him play against UNC. Ja took the small school route and attended Murray State University in Murray, Tennessee.

Ja was almost an unknown coming out of high school, according to ESPN’s recruiting board his only offer was from Murray State. Morant did play well enough to be ranked the 78th college player going into the 2018-19 season by CBS (granted that ranking had Zion down at 13th best, behind a few players who weren’t drafted after the season).

Needless to say, both were considerably better than their preseason rankings and have evolved into the top two rookies in the NBA.

On January 31st we were finally treated to the first NBA game between the two rookie sensations. A combination of scheduling quirks (the first game played between the teams was on MLK Day about two weeks before) and injuries (Zion missed that first game while recovering from pre-season knee surgery) delayed this meeting.

Of particular importance for me, this was the only game I was able to attend this season.

Memphis was without a couple of key players for this game, Brandon Clarke was ruled out with left hip soreness just a few hours before tip-off, while Jaren Jackson Jr. was suspended for his involvement in a scuffle that took place at the end of the Grizzlies-Knicks game two nights before.

What was at stake?

This game was a chance for the New Orleans Pelicans to close the gap between them and Memphis for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. With a win on this night, New Orleans would guarantee at least a season-series split with Memphis.

All wins are important but the ones that come against teams near you in the standings feel like they’re worth a little extra, especially later into the season.

Let’s take a look at the best and worst from an exciting night.