Collective applause session in the Pelicans locker room. The players of New Orleans celebrate, without outpouring of joy, their victory of the night against the Kings which allows them to formalize their qualification for the “play-in”.
« It’s great Willie Green calmly enthuses in front of his players, recalling that this group has come a long way. “ I can’t have guys on the pitch who don’t give 110% “, For example, dropped the rookie coach in mid-November when his team had just lost an eighth game in a row.
The Pelicans had indeed started with a disastrous record of a small victory for twelve defeats. Balance sheet which had continued to evolve unfavorably in the following weeks (3v-16d). ” Nobody wants to go through a record of one win – twelve losses. But it made us stronger, stronger. And more importantly, it bonded us more “, judges the coach today, likely to bring the Pelicans back to the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
Big last straight line
This failed start to the season was marked by a handful of matches missed by Brandon Ingram and above all the uncertainty surrounding the state of health of Zion Williamson. In the end, he never left the infirmary.
The Pelicans have gradually pulled their heads above water, notably by chaining a first series of four straight wins in mid-December to leave last place in the West. NOLA had a second series of four successes in early February before the major transfer made to recover CJ McCollum.
The back of the Blazers, whose former team fell in the standings, breathed new life into the team which, however, continued to alternate between good and bad. Until this beautiful last straight line marked by eight victories in their last twelve outings, including a series of well-negotiated trips (victories on the floors of the Blazers, Lakers and Kings therefore).
« This ‘road trip’ was very important for us and winning three games out of four is great. We’ve come through the whole season improving and trying to improve with every practice, every shooting session, every video session. It’s wonderful to see that we have given ourselves the opportunity to extend the season “, Appreciates Willie Green.
A solid team
The latter believes that his troupe has learned over time to become a ” strong team. We started with a lot of new faces, our youth took over, we had a few injuries, but we continued to grow together. And here we are with a great opportunity ahead of us. We couldn’t be more proud of our group, our guys, our staff, our medical team, our performance team, our management, everyone involved. This course was fun. We know we still have work to do but we’re going to celebrate tonight. »
Despite this qualification, Willie Green also displays in the locker room his desire to secure 9th place so that the Pelicans can welcome the Spurs, who are also guaranteed to be qualified, during the “play-in” match. In case of victory against the Texans, it will still be necessary to win against the loser of the meeting between Wolves (or Nuggets) and Clippers to access the “real” final stages.
« We have a good opportunity to make a good run for the playoffsjudge Willie Hernangomez, holder this night (12 points and 12 rebounds), in the absence of Jonas Valanciunas. We trust each other. We will have, I hope, two matches, two finals for us. Hopefully, we’ll play the first game at home, in New Orleans, with everyone. It will be a great time and hopefully a great way to keep moving forward. »
| Tirs | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Tirs | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Fte | Pts |
| C.j. Mccollum | 22 | 35.6 | 50.0 | 40.1 | 70.3 | 0.8 | 4.0 | 4.8 | 6.1 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 25.9 |
| Brandon Ingram | 54 | 34.0 | 46.3 | 32.7 | 82.8 | 0.6 | 5.1 | 5.8 | 5.5 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 22.8 |
| Jonas Valančiūnas | 72 | 30.7 | 54.3 | 36.1 | 81.6 | 3.1 | 8.5 | 11.6 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 17.9 |
| Josh Hart | 41 | 33.5 | 50.5 | 32.3 | 75.3 | 1.3 | 6.5 | 7.8 | 4.1 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 2.9 | 13.4 |
| Nickeil Alexander-walker | 50 | 26.3 | 37.5 | 31.1 | 72.2 | 0.7 | 2.6 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 12.8 |
| Devonte’ Graham | 73 | 28.8 | 36.0 | 34.1 | 84.2 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 4.2 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 12.0 |
| Herb Jones | 75 | 30.1 | 47.7 | 34.0 | 83.5 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 3.8 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 9.6 |
| Jaxson Hayes | 66 | 19.7 | 62.4 | 36.2 | 77.4 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 4.4 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 9.1 |
| Willy Hernangomez | 46 | 16.0 | 53.3 | 36.4 | 75.6 | 2.6 | 3.7 | 6.4 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 8.7 |
| Larry Nance, Jr. | 5 | 20.5 | 60.0 | 75.0 | 100.0 | 1.4 | 3.4 | 4.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 7.0 |
| Joseph Alvarado | 50 | 15.0 | 44.3 | 30.7 | 71.1 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 5.9 |
| Kira Lewis, Jr. | 24 | 14.2 | 40.4 | 22.4 | 83.3 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 5.9 |
| Tony Snell | 12 | 19.4 | 43.1 | 40.9 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 5.7 |
| Naji Marshall | 51 | 13.0 | 40.4 | 21.2 | 78.8 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 5.6 |
| Garrett Temple | 56 | 18.9 | 38.3 | 32.0 | 68.3 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 5.4 |
| Trey Murphy Iii | 58 | 13.5 | 38.4 | 36.5 | 85.7 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 4.9 |
| Jared Harper | 2 | 5.2 | 42.9 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 3.5 |
| Tyrone Wallace | 6 | 12.5 | 35.0 | 25.0 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 2.8 |
| Tomas Satoransky | 32 | 15.0 | 29.9 | 16.1 | 76.0 | 0.6 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.8 |
| Gary Clark | 35 | 9.5 | 35.5 | 38.1 | 75.0 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 2.4 |
| Alize Johnson | 4 | 7.1 | 30.0 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 2.2 |
| Didi Louzada | 2 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
