The New Orleans Pelicans are playing their best basketball right now, winning 8 of their last 11 games. They have one of the most complete rosters in the NBA and look like a real threat to make some noise in the Western Conference playoffs. With Zion Williamson healthy and playing some of the best basketball of his career, the New Orleans Pelicans are a very dangerous team.
The New Orleans Pelicans are 9th in offensive rating, 6th in defensive rating, and 4th in net rating. Those are championship ratings, top 10 in offense, top 10 in defense, and top 5 in net rating, a lot of previous champions were in those categories. This is an elite basketball team and yet we don’t talk about them like one. The question is, why? For one, whenever anyone talks about Zion Williamson, they just talk about how he is out of shape and always hurt. Williamson did miss the entire 2021-22 season and the last half of the 2022-23 season, so it is fair to question Zion’s health. However, Williamson has been healthy this season, playing in 57 of 68 games and he has been good, even if his numbers are down, averaging 22.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game. His numbers are down, in part, because his minutes are down, 33.0 minutes per game in 2022-23, Williamson is playing 30.9 minutes per game this season. On Friday, he had a signature night, with 34 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals, in a win against the Clippers (more on them later). Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum have also had good seasons. Ingram is averaging 21.0 points, 5.8 assists, and 5.1 rebounds per game on shooting splits of .49/.36/.80 and McCollum is averaging 18.3 points, 4.4 assists, and 4.2 rebounds on .46/.41/.79 shooting splits. While both are scoring at their lowest rates of their Pelicans careers, both players have had the ball less with Zion being full go, also Ingram is tied for his career high in assists. While, individually they have all been good, the Pelicans have been mediocre with their big 3 on the court. In 713 minutes with Williamson, Ingram, and McCollum on the court, the Pelicans have a net rating of -1.7, which would rank 20th in the NBA, tied with the Bulls. Their offense would be 25th and their defense would be 13th in the league. This is a trio that has been together for just over 2 years at this point and still haven’t found a great rhythm together, yet the Pelicans just keep on winning.
With Herb Jones on the court the Pelicans are 4.3 points per 100 possessions better than when he is off the court, according to Cleaning the Glass. When Trey Murphy is on the court, they are 8.6 points per 100 possessions better than when he is off the court, also according to Cleaning the Glass. Jones and Murphy have been dynamite this season and they are a huge reason as to why the Pelicans have been so successful. Both players were drafted in the 2021 NBA Draft, Murphy at 17 and Jones at 35, and both have been the reason the Pelicans have been so good defensively. In 527 minutes where both players are on the court the Pelicans have a net rating of +13.9 and a defensive rating of 99.3 both numbers would be first in the NBA, and the defensive rating blows everyone out of the water. The duo of Jones and Murphy is tied for 6th in the NBA in defensive rating when filtered for 2 player lineups who have played more than 300 minutes together. That is how good those 2 guys have been this season for the Pelicans as Jones is a Defensive Player of the Year candidate and Murphy is a 6th Man of the Year candidate. Herb Jones and Trey Murphy are the Pelicans secret ingredients to why they are so good, especially on the defensive end.
Their first round series looks like it is going to be against the Los Angeles Clippers and I really hope we get this series because both these teams would be facing a lot of pressure. A first round loss for the Pelicans and the questions become loud about their current trio of players, a first round loss for the Clippers and the questions become really loud about what comes next. I think Los Angeles is a better team with a better trio of stars that fit better together but I do think that the Pelicans can win that series. We just saw Zion have a monster performance against the Clippers and I do think that was something, Kawhi Leonard is one of the best defenders in the league and the Pelicans scored 9 points when Leonard was guarding Zion in the Pelicans win, finding ways to score when Leonard was making Williamson’s life difficult. Now, James Harden and Russell Westbrook were out so their return certainly gives the Clippers a boost but this is a series I really want to see and think there is a good chance we do.
The New Orleans Pelicans are playing their best basketball of the season and seem to be peaking at the right time. That dunk by Zion in the Pelicans win Tuesday against the Nets was nasty and Williamson looks as healthy as he ever has since he joined the NBA. The Pelicans are really good and there are going to be expectations in the playoffs, how will they respond?
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