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The NBA Playoffs are just around the corner and every team except the Boston Celtics is still in a battle for the best spot in the conference standings. A few franchises are assured of a week off before the postseason’s seven-game series begins.
The New Orleans Pelicans are not one of those safe squads. Willie Green’s group is still in danger of falling back into the NBA Play-In Tournament picture for the third consecutive season. That’s just the beginning of a nightmare scenario for the team.
The Pelicans are playing aggressively and Zion Williamson is having fun experiencing an NBA stretch run pack full of meaningful games. Still, they need wins to go along with the locker room’s recent growth.
New Orleans (45-28) is just two games ahead of the currently seventh-placed Phoenix Suns (43-30) on Good Friday. Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks (43-29) are in between, still battling to catch the now-fourth Los Angeles Clippers (45-27) for home-court advantage in the first round.
Unfortunately, Williamson will have to navigate the eighth most difficult schedule remaining down the stretch with Brandon Ingram for at least half of those matchups. Ingram was ruled out for at least two weeks on March 22. That timeline would have Ingram return on April 5 (vs. San Antonio Spurs) or April 7 (at Phoenix). That leaves the former All-Star four or five games max to knock off any rust.
The schedule before Ingram’s return is daunting. The Boston Celtics (March 31), Suns (April 1), and Spurs (April 5) all come to the Smoothie King Center before embarking on a four-game road trip. The Suns can erase the Pelicans’ two-game advantage on April 7.
Then it’s up the coast for dates with the Portland Trail Blazers (April 9), Sacramento Kings (April 11), and increasingly desperate Golden State Warriors (April 12) in a back-to-back set.
Pelicans worst case scenario is seeing Hall of Famers
The Pelicans’ worst-case scenario starts with a setback to Ingram’s rehabilitation. It ends with an NBA Play-In Tournament elimination game against either Doncic, Steph Curry, LeBron James, or Kevin Durant. At the end of that path, should the Pelicans progress, awaits the reigning champion Denver Nuggets.
The Warriors are struggling to fend off the Houston Rockets for the 10th seed. Ime Udoka and Steve Kerr are at war to win a trip to L.A. or Sacramento. But would anyone count out Curry should Golden State win the first elimination game?
Would the Pelicans, who would have lost the 8th vs 9th game, wilt under pressure hosting the final Play-In game at the Smoothie King Center? Curry hit the Pelicans for 42 points, five rebounds, five assists, and two steals back in October.
New Orleans knows that dropping into the NBA Play-In mix likely means a date against either the Babyface Assassin (Curry) or The King (LeBron). There is a slim chance the Pelicans would be paired against the Kings. Willie Green is 4-0 against Mike Brown already this season. Styles make fights but revenge is worth something in a win-or-go-home situation.
Finding out how Williamson will react when the scouting reports are dialed in is one of the biggest priorities this postseason. The worst-case scenario for adding to that sample size is finding out during NBA Play-In Tournament games against future Hall-of-Famers.
That’s a gamble a largely young and inexperienced team needs to avoid at all costs. The team cannot rush Ingram back from injury, but Green can cut down on bench minutes in favor of more time for Williamson, CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, and Trey Murphy III.
If not, and the worst-case scenario goes south, that foursome may never play together again.
More must-reads:
- James Harden outduels former teammate as Clippers even series
- Watch: Kyrie Irving helps Mavs erase 31-point deficit in Game 4 vs. Clippers
- The 'Most points in a playoff game by team' quiz
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