After a disappointing regular season that saw the New Orleans Pelicans finish 10 games under .500 at 36-46, they bounced back in the Western Conference play-in tournament to advance to the first round of the NBA playoffs. The Pelicans defeated the Los Angeles Clippers and the San Antonio Spurs.
Their final game against the Clippers to advance to the first round of the playoffs was one of the best play-in games of the week. They ended up getting outscored by 20 points in the third quarter, but then came back and outscored the Clippers by 14 in the fourth quarter to walk away with a 105-101 win.
There were a few guys for the Pelicans who stepped up for them, including Brandon Ingram, who finished the night with 30 points. CJ McCollum didn’t have his best game, as he finished with only 19 points and was inefficient, shooting 14,3% from three-point range.
New Orleans is going to take out a star-studded Phoenix Sun team that not only had the best record in the Western Conference and the NBA throughout the regular season, but also finished in the top six in every advanced metric. Phoenix had the second-rated net rating, the fifth-rated offense, and the third-rated defense.
Beating the Suns seems like an impossible task for the Pelicans, but it also might be for every team in the playoffs. They would have to catch Phoenix at the worst that they have played all season for them to get the job done.
If New Orleans is going to beat the Suns, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum are going to have to play the best basketball of their careers. Even if they do play the best basketball of their lives, there is a good chance that they still won’t beat this Suns team.
The first game of the series is going to be on Sunday at 9 EST.
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