The NBA season is underway, but it hasn’t been an ideal start for the New Orleans Pelicans. They’ve dropped the first two games, including a tight overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs in their home opener.
The Pelicans kicked the season off against the Grizzlies in Memphis. They got off to a strong start with an 11-point lead entering the second half. However, as the third quarter began, Memphis responded with a 27–6 run to erase the deficit. Memphis went on to score 41 points in the third quarter compared to New Orleans’s 22.
The Grizzlies entered the final quarter with a 97–89 lead over the Pelicans. New Orleans was on the verge of a comeback until Ja Morant hit a clutch shot with 32.9 seconds left in regulation. This forced the Pelicans to stop the clock by fouling. Memphis knocked down free throws in the closing seconds to beat the Pelicans with a final score of 128–122.
NOLA’s next game was their home opener at the Smoothie King Center, where they took on the San Antonio Spurs. The game opened with a bang as Zion Williamson took an explosive drive, setting up a poster dunk over French superstar Victor Wembanyama.
The excitement in the arena would be short-lived, as Wembanyama blocked the next few attempts in the paint from Williamson. Both teams were neck-and-neck at the end of the first half with a Pelicans 58–57 lead. Williamson and Wembanyama each had 12 points in the first half.
The rest of regulation time would go right down to the wire as Zion Williamson would make one-out-of-two free throws and play great defense on Wembanyama to keep the game tied at 107 at the end of regulation. San Antonio would come out on top as they held the Pelicans to only nine points in overtime. The Pelicans would drop their second game of the season 120-116.
Zion Williamson averaged 27 points, nine rebounds and six assists throughout the first two games of the season. Williamson has been the franchise player for the Pelicans since being drafted first overall in the 2019 NBA draft. At the time, the front office and the city of New Orleans expected to contend for a championship within a few seasons, having Williamson at the helm.
Unfortunately, this is season six for Williamson and the Pelicans are coming off of a 21-61 record from last season. In Zion’s first five seasons New Orleans only made two playoff appearances, getting bounced out in the first round both times. Part of this has to do with injuries that seem to plague the roster each season, particularly when it comes to their star players.
Williamson, since being drafted in 2019, has only played a total of 216 games. The most games played came from the 23-24 season, where he played 70. Every other season, Williamson hasn’t played more than 61 games in a full 82-game season. Last season Williamson only played 30 games, averaging 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Longtime Assistant General Manager, Bryson Graham, was promoted by the Pelicans to General Manager in late June, giving fans hope of potential roster moves to propel the Pelicans closer to a playoff contention. The front office wasted little time in making moves, drafting promising combo-guard Jeremiah Fears and versatile bigman Derik Queen.
They also got rid of some of the age on the roster, trading 34-year-old guard CJ McCollum and 34-year-old forward Kelly Olynyk to the Washington Wizards for Jordan Poole and Saddiq Bey. Additionally, they signed long-time Golden State Warriors veteran Kevon Looney.
These moves were made to patch up the point guard hole left by Dejaunte Murray, who only played 31 games last season before tearing his Achilles tendon, while also adding more depth to the roster. So far, the moves made have all seemed to be good ones. Jordan Poole is averaging 19 points, two rebounds and three assists, while Bey is averaging 11 points, four rebounds and two assists.
The new draftees have also been looking very promising in their small sample size so far. Jeremiah Fears is proving that his preseason performance wasn’t a fluke as he’s averaging 15 points throughout the first two games of the season.
Derik Queen didn’t have the greatest NBA debut, logging three personal fouls and shooting 1-5 from the field. He started to get more comfortable in his second game against the Spurs, logging 15 points and 6 rebounds in 35 minutes. Additionally, he logged 2 blocks and a steal. Queen might see fewer minutes once Kevon Looney returns to action from a minor knee injury he suffered right before the season started.
The first two games should not be an indicator of how this season will ultimately pan out. The Pelicans pushed a strong-looking Wembanyama-led Spurs team to overtime and only lost by four points. Between the new roster additions and a possible return for Dejounte Murray sometime this season, the New Orleans Pelicans have the ability to make noise going into the playoff season.