The New Orleans Pelicans come off of a very, very important win on Sunday against the Phoenix Suns beating them 113-105. Which means the Pelicans have now pulled into a tie for the 6th seed, the final assured playoff spot to avoid having to play in the play-in tournament. There are only 4 more games left in the regular season as of today (April 9th, 2024) 3 out of the 4 being road games. Here’s how the Pelicans can finish off the season strong, and try and avoid being in the play-in tournament.
New Orleans Pelicans Need To Enter The Playoff On A “Healthy” Note
This Pelicans team has defiantly struggled with injuries in the past, but this season between the Pelicans big 3 Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and CJ McCollum, they’ve managed to stay relatively healthy for most of the season. Ingram is still dealing with a knee injury, but may be back before the post-season even starts. The Pelicans best option would probably be to keep Ingram rested and get him ready to go come playoff time.
Now, as the Pelicans navigate the final stretch of the season, the importance of maintaining player health can not be overstated. Injuries now only impact individual performance, but also has a ripple effect throughout the entire team, that impacts chemistry, rotations, and overall team performance on the court. To navigate these challenges and maximize New Orleans playoff potential, the Pels must prioritize player health above all else these last 4 games, and enter the post-season at full strength to have a chance in this highly competitive Western Conference.
These New Orleans Pelicans Players Need To Stay Hot Come Playoff Time
It’s no question that Zion Williamson has been playing out of his mind recently, besides Zion sitting out versus the Spurs Zion stat-line since the start of April is he’s played 3 games with a total of 69 points, 14 rebounds, 17 assists, and we’re only a week and a half into the month. Williamson is on a serious heat check right now and needs to keep that up and carried on into the final games and into the playoffs.
Another player on a tear right now is CJ McCollum. McCollum’s stat-line for the month of April so far is 4 games with a total of 113 points, 25 rebounds, and 22 assists in a total of 162 minutes. This duo combined with the way Herbert Jones, and the Pelicans have been playing defense is a force to be reckon with come playoff time if they keep performing like this on the court.
Pelicans Need To Quit Getting To Comfortable Against Smaller Teams
At the start of Sunday’s game against the Suns, the Pelicans had committed four turnovers less than four minutes into the game. Head coach Willie Green did not like what he saw, so he subbed out starting center Jonas Valanciunas and put in 6-foot-7 Australian Dyson Daniels who normally splits time between guard and forward. The move ended up working in the end, as the pelicans ended up beating the Suns, and staying alive in their hunt for a top-six seed.
The Pels need to take this momentum and carry it on game to game, as Green will most likely continue to toy with this lineup to give Williamson as much room to operate as possible on offense. “Small-Ball” lineups haven’t always been great for the Pelicans this season, but it was very effective Sunday. This team needs to come together in this end of the season push and try and win the remaining games on the road to secure a higher seed and avoid having to be in the play-in tournament.