The New Orleans Pelicans should come into tonight’s rematch with the Golden State Warriors with a big chip on their shoulders.
The Pels were wiped out by Stephen Curry and the Warriors in the most important game of the season to date and how the Pels respond will say a lot about them as a team.
The game had Marvel theme though the Pelicans looked like pretty dodgy Avengers.
Both the Grizzlies and Spurs lost as well, so the Pels are still in the hunt for the play-in game though time is rapidly running out for them to make a run.
Another loss tonight and their season is more or less over, while a win could propel them within striking distance of the Spurs and Grizzlies, who both have tough schedules remaining.
But I am more interested in how the young New Orleans Pelicans respond after not showing up in the biggest game of the season.
Here are three things to watch in a game that will reveal the character of the New Orleans Pelicans.
New Orleans Pelicans: Can the Pelicans bounce back?
You have to have a short memory to play professional sports, as there is always another game coming soon and you can’t let one bad loss linger.
How will the Pelicans respond to getting blown out by the Warriors? That is the big question, as they didn’t great efforts from anyone not named Zion Williamson.
This will also be a test for Stan Van Gundy, who has to get his team ready to play and has to come up with a better game plan in the second game against the Warriors.
These games are more or less playoff games for the Pelicans, and it is nice that they are at least getting some meaningful games this season, one nice thing about the play-in tournament.
Will the Pelicans respond or come out and drop another stink bomb? It’s time to see what this team is made of.
New Orleans Pelicans: How will the Pelicans stop Curry?
The Pelicans watched in awe as Stephen Curry dismantled them in the first quarter last night and they were never able to recover.
What more can you say about this guy? He is 33-years-old and leading the NBA in scoring, and if the Warriors were a little higher in the standings, he’d be the MVP and I am not sure he shouldn’t be anyway, as no one in the NBA is doing more with less than Curry is right now.
It didn’t matter who the Pelicans put on him last night, as Curry was in his bag and couldn’t be stopped, often making the defenders look silly in the process:
Steph made Bledsoe touch earth 😬
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 4, 2021
(via @NBCSWarriors)pic.twitter.com/M3Qc7BEyHm
Stan Van Gundy has to come up with something different. Maybe the super inconsistent Lonzo Ball should get the primary Curry duty?
I can only say good luck to Lonzo, Eric Bledsoe and SVG, as no one has been able to stop Curry this season, so all they can hope for is to slow him down a bit.
New Orleans Pelicans: Can the Pelicans make a 3-point shot?
One thing is certain this offseason: the Pelicans have to find some 3-point shooting to put around Zion Williamson.
The Pelicans have dropped from 4th overall in the NBA last season to 26th this season in 3-point percentage, which was on full display last night as they hit only 5-of-25 for a pathetic 20 percent.
The team’s 3-point shooting pretty much goes as Lonzo Ball goes, and he hit just 1-of-9 in the loss. Lonzo’s last four games have really shown his biggest problem, which is consistency.
Based on what we’ve seen lately, he will probably hit 10 of them in this game, as he has been all or nothing over the last four.
The Warriors made 17-of-44 from the 3-point line, so if the Pelicans want to have a chance in the rematch, they not only have to hit some long-range shots of their own, but also stop the Warriors from hitting nearly 40 percent as a team.
The New Orleans Pelicans’ season is on the line tonight, but more importantly, we get to see how this young team responds to the pressure of playing meaningful games against one of the league’s best players.