The New Orleans Pelicans notched their first win of the season against the Minnesota Timberwolves, which was nice to see after they dropped their first three.
Things haven’t gone to plan so far, as Zion Williamson is out with an injury and the Pels’ offense has struggled in his absence.
They finally got on track (somewhat) last night behind another big game from Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas.
Coach Willie Green is still looking for different groups that work together, but has had one lineup that has been very successful so far in a small sample size.
On tonight’s late night edition of extremely small sample size theater: pic.twitter.com/6SP8cAZOrj
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) October 26, 2021
This has been the Pels’ starting five in all but one of the games so far, and it is working, which is something fans should be excited about.
New Orleans Pelicans: Why this matters
Looking at lineups this early in the season is Fool’s Gold, as the sample size is too small to draw too many conclusions, but there are reasons to be excited.
The first is that the Pels look to have found a steal in Herb Jones, who impacts the game all over the floor without scoring, which is exactly the type of player who will thrive around Zion Williamson.
Jones had some amazing defensive stands against the ‘Wolves last night, including one where he locked up everyone from Anthony Edwards to Karl-Anthony Towns on the same play.
Herb Jones has been the most impactful 2nd-round rookie in the NBA this season, which is exciting for the Pelicans.
The most encouraging part of all of this is that the Pelicans starting five has been very good without Zion Williamson, while their bench has been atrocious.
When he returns, one of those starters is heading to the bench, which will hopefully balance the units. Also, Zion will get plenty of run with the reserves, which will get them better shots and hopefully increase their production all around.
It has not been the greatest start, but the Pels’ starters have been excellent so far, so once Zion comes back and everyone returns to their natural roles this team could take off.