New Orleans Pelicans: 3 takeaways from pre-season game vs. Miami Heat

The New Orleans Pelicans are looking solid after one pre-season game is in the books.

After a shortened offseason, the New Orleans Pelicans returned to action last night vs. the Miami Heat.

It’s difficult to judge play in the preseason, but Stan Van Gundy gave us a good preview of how the Pelicans will look when the season starts.

Both Bledsoe and J.J. Redick were out for the first game due to precautionary reasons, and the Heat opted to sit Jimmy Butler, Goran Dragic, and Andre Iguodala. So, both teams were missing their fair share of players.

We were still able to see the Pelicans play some of their players in the 30+ minute range, probably since the Pelicans are only playing two pre-season games. The Pels “Big 3” of Zion Williamson, Lonzo Ball, and Brandon Ingram all played over 30 minutes last night.

New Orleans Pelicans: Brandon Ingram looks like a superstar

Brandon Ingram was very impressive. He reminded me a lot of Kevin Durant with some of the near-impossible mid-range shots he knocked down. He was in his bag all night, hitting step backs, finishing strong at the rim, and hitting open 3-pointers. He was very efficient shooting 54% from the field, and 40% from 3-point land.

BI finished with 22 points, six rebounds, and six assists. If he plays at this level, he will make the All-NBA team.

Zion looked great as well. I did notice that he appeared gassed at certain moments, but this is the first time he’s played over 30 minutes in 2 years… once he starts doing this regularly throughout the season, he should be fine.

Zion did what he does best all game with finishing strong at the rim and he shot very well from the free-throw line, hitting 10/11. This will be crucial in this upcoming season. He also looked much more willing to rebound last night, grabbing 11 boards.

Zion finished the game with 26 points, 11 rebounds, and two assists.

Lonzo had a decent first outing as well. He played his role as the primary ball-handler/facilitator and made some smart plays. I thought the screens with Steven Adams and Zion opened up a lot for the Pels. Lonzo didn’t shoot very well last night though. He only hit 2/9 of his 3-pointers and a lot of them were wide open. I’m glad he has the confidence to take them, but the Pelicans are going to need that percentage to improve.

Lonzo finished with 12 points, six assists, and four rebounds.

Here are three takeaways from the team as a whole.