New Orleans Pelicans: 3 Things to Watch in Tonight’s Scrimmage vs. Nets

The New Orleans Pelicans kick off vs. the Nets tonight. Here’s what to look for in the scrimmage.

It’s been over four months since the New Orleans Pelicans have played meaningful basketball, and the players and fans alike are ready to get back to action.

It kicks off tonight against the Brooklyn Nets at The Arena in Orlando. Here is how you can watch/stream the scrimmage.

Obviously, these scrimmage games will be different for a lot of reasons. Although they are still technically part of the “regular” season, they will come after more than a four month layoff, so will have the feel of training camp games.

Teams will be cautious about injuries, likely play their regulars sparingly and will really just use the time to get back into basketball shape and prepare mentally for playing competitive basketball again.

Like all of us, NBA players have been locked down during the pandemic, so it has to feel liberating to get back to basketball and reclaim some sense of normality, though there is nothing normal about this NBA season or 2020 as a whole.

But it’s finally time for the Pelicans to break out of the rusty cage. Lyrics courtesy of Chris Cornell and Soundgarden.

Here are three things to look for as the New Orleans Pelicans get back to work against the Nets.

“I’m gonna break my rusty cage and run…”

Both teams will try to shake off the rust after an extended layoff where no one played meaningful hoops.

It will be interesting to see which players look ready to go, which look like they’ve spent to much time on the sofa and which ones seem mentally dialed in from the start.

It has to be difficult to just flip a switch and suddenly go from playing video games to playing the Nets, so one thing to watch out for is the rust.

Expect sloppy play. Expect turnovers. Expect a LOT of reaching in fouls and missed shots.

While these game may not count in the standings, they will tell us a lot about which teams stayed in shape during the break, which ones have the chemistry to succeed in this format and which ones might falter.

The Pels are ready to run, but we’ll have to see what kind of legs they are on and where they are mentally.