New Orleans Pelicans: 3 things that need to happen vs. Detroit

New Orleans Pelicans: Lonzo Ball and Kira Lewis need to dominate

The Detroit Pistons are without rookie Killian Hayes and point guard Delon Wright, so they will be shorthanded and running out a trio of young point guards.

One of them, Frank Jackson, is very familiar to the Pels, while the other two, Dennis Smith Jr. and Saben Lee, are more unknown.

Smith Jr. tried to punk Kira Lewis Jr. in the last matchup and got away with it, something that cannot happen in the rematch.

Saben Lee has been playing well lately and has the quickness and athleticism to get into the lane, so stopping his dribble penetration will be key.

This should be a game that Lonzo Ball dominates, as he is the best point guard on either team and has a size advantage over all of the Pistons’ guards.

I’d love to see Lonzo establish himself early against the smaller Pistons’ defenders, impose his will and have a huge game.

Lonzo is the wildcard for the Pels, as they usually win when he plays well, so he needs to have a big game against Detroit.

The New Orleans Pelicans can’t allow the Detroit Pistons to steal the momentum they got from the win over Boston. The Pels need to start fast, play intense defense all game and dominate the point guard matchups.