New Orleans Pelicans need to take advantage of 76ers’ drama in opener
The New Orleans Pelicans will take on the Philadelphia 76ers in the opening game tonight in the Smoothie King Center.
Raise your hand if you are sick to death of hearing about Ben Simmons and the 76ers. Philly has dominated NBA headlines for weeks over the drama with their All-NBA point guard, who refused to participate in training camp and is demanding a trade.
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Things got ugly already when Simmons reportedly refused to take part in a defensive drill and was asked to leave practice. Everyone from Doc Rivers to Joel Embiid is livid over the whole thing (I can’t blame them) which has obviously been a distraction for the 76ers.
The Pelicans have had plenty of offseason drama of their own with the injury to Zion Williamson that will keep him sidelined for at least a few more weeks.
It wasn’t so much the injury that upset fans, but how the Pelicans handled it, as they kept the whole thing secret and then downplayed it in the media before back-tracking and saying “oops, that’s not what we meant.”
But the Pels’ drama is nothing compared to the 76ers, so will the New Orleans Pelicans be able to take advantage on opening night at home?
The New Orleans Pelicans won’t have to deal with Ben Simmons
The good news for the Pelicans is that Ben Simmons was suspended for the first game after his antics in practice and will not be in the lineup for the opener.
With Shake Milton also listed as out, the 76ers will be thin at point guard, so hopefully the Pelicans can take advantage and get big games out of guys like Devonte’ Graham and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
Teams that are going through personality clashes can go either way. Sometimes the remaining players will rally around each other and use the strife as motivation but other times an absence can be a distraction.
Let’s hope it’s the latter tonight for the Philadelphia 76ers, who are trying to show they can win without Ben Simmons just as the Pels are hoping to stay afloat with Zion Williamson on the bench.
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