New Orleans Pelicans: 3 Takeaways from the Pels’ 99-68 Win Over the Nets
The New Orleans Pelicans took the first step towards the playoffs with a win over the Nets.
It had been more than four months since the New Orleans Pelicans played meaningful basketball, but it didn’t really show.
The Pelicans were surprisingly crisp, especially early on. Brandon Ingram looked like he hasn’t missed a beat and Lonzo Ball had a really nice finish at the rim in traffic and looked confident shooting the ball.
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They ended the first half 10 for 20 from long-range which you’ll take any night.
The lineups were all over the place and the starters didn’t play big minutes, but all things considered, the Pelicans looked good.
There was a lot to like in this scrimmage win, but of course, it’s only a scrimmage against a heavily depleted team, so we can’t read too much into anything.
Winning isn’t necessarily the most important thing when you are talking about a scrimmage, but it was nice to see the Pelicans get their first win in what is hopefully an extended run to the playoffs.
The starters didn’t play big minutes and the Nets were without most of their team, but there were still some interesting takeaways from the Pels’ first win in the bubble.
It Was Great to Have Basketball Back Even Without Fans
Yes, this was only scrimmage, but it was nice to have Pelicans’ basketball back again.
My first takeaway is that the Nets did a great job with the court, which was beautiful, and the backdrop, which did a good job of hiding the lack of fans.
I did miss the roar of the crowd at times, but overall it was still very enjoyable without people in the audience. It wasn’t the same, and did feel somewhat eerie at times, particularly the camera shots on the opposite side of where the players were sitting, but the NBA did a pretty good job.
I’m sure the NBA will tinker with the format, possibly add some more music and other stadium noises, but it was an interesting experiment that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Maybe I am just starved for hoops, or just needed the distraction, but it was nice to have basketball.