The New Orleans Pelicans will play their most important game of the season tonight vs. the Golden State Warriors.
The Pelicans are trying to claw their way into the play-in tournament and find themselves just 2.5 games back of the Spurs and three behind the Warriors for one of the final two spots with just eight games left to play.
The possibility of the play-in games has given the late season some meaning for the Pelicans, who would be long out of it under the normal rules.
This game will have a Marvel theme, so the Pelicans will have to do their best Avengers impersonations if they want to save their season.
Will their young players respond in what should be a playoff atmosphere tonight at SKC? That is just one thing to watch as the Pelicans play the first of back-to-back games against the Warriors with their season on the line.
New Orleans Pelicans: How will young players respond?
The Pelicans showed some moxie in their most recent win over the Timberwolves, mounting a big 4th-quarter comeback to send the game to overtime before Zion Williamson put the finishing touches on Minnesota.
The New Orleans Pelicans really can’t afford to lose any more games, but certainly not agains the team they are chasing, so this will be the biggest, most pressure-filled game of the season.
Lonzo Ball has put together two back-to-back gems and looks to have regained his shooting touch since returning from injury, but can he keep it up against the Warriors?
How will Brandon Ingram respond to the pressure? How about Zion? This is really the first “playoff” type game the young Pelicans have had (not counting last season’s disastrous bubble performance) and it will be interesting to see how the young Pels respond against Stephen Curry and the Warriors, who have been in this spot many times before.