Take a deep breath, Pelicans fans. Everything will be alright. I understand the 128-122 loss hurts, especially after all the hype built up this summer. However, the Pelicans barely lost this game, on a night when nothing went right.
Zion Williamson was 10/21 and started the game 0/4 in the first quarter, the chances of him ever shooting that poorly are unbelievably low. Williamson is a career 59 percent shooter from the field. For this team to fight and remain competitive through 4 quarters on a night like this is unheard of.
Williamson wasn’t the only scorer who struggled; assumed breakout star Trey Murphy III was 5/15 from the field and couldn’t buy a bucket in the second half. Murphy III is one of the most effective and impactful scorers in his age group. A 13-point game with four points in the final two quarters is an anomaly.
Injury also struck again. This group was still very much in control when Missi went down. If he stays in the game and doesn’t get hurt, New Orleans doesn’t lose this game.
The next four games are the real decider
The Pelicans' next four games feature the San Antonio Spurs, the Boston Celtics, the LA Clippers, and the Denver Nuggets. All four of these teams present a combination of talent and experience that only comes from playoff teams. If New Orleans is struggling against these teams, that’s when we may need to sound the alarm.
But after one regular season game where everything that needed and could possibly go wrong went wrong, it isn’t alarm time. Fans need to focus on the positives from this loss.
After struggling with efficiency in preseason and Summer League, Rookie Jeremiah Fears went 7/10 from the field and flashed a ton of potential. Another good takeaway is that Herb Jones' defensive impact still remains strong.
Jordan Poole was smart with the ball, finishing the night with zero turnovers. He also brought a ton as a shoot creator. Before injury, Yves Missi looked way more trustworthy as a rebounder and defender. Lastly, Hunter Dickinson may have played himself out of the rotation (lol).
So while many fans are throwing in the towel and ready to call this year a wash, I think there was a ton of good in this loss. Although you wanna start each season in the right column, when you have as much go wrong for you as tonight did, it makes the L easier to come to terms with.