After four quarters of play, the Pelicans, who ranked ninth in the West, eventually eliminated the Tenth Place Spurs in the West 113-103, successfully advancing to the second round of the playoffs, retaining the hope of continuing to impact the playoffs.
And this game against the Spurs, the team's most successful signing of the season, all-Star guard CJ McCollum played a crucial role.
CJ McCollum was well defensively and defensively, starting 38 minutes, shooting 3 three-pointers on 12 of 23 shooting, scoring a game-high 32 points, plus 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 1 block!
Rationally speaking, although the Spurs have a young combination of Murray + Kelden Johnson, CJ McCollum, who has both experience and strength, is still at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, almost single-handedly, successfully rewriting the trend of the game.
Joining the Pelicans in the middle of the season, CJ McCollum's performance is obvious to all, and throughout the regular season, CJ McCollum played in 26 games for the Pelicans, and the season attendance can be said to be quite impressive.
With an average of 34 minutes per game, CJ McCollum averaged 24.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.3 steals per game, and 39.4% three-point shooting, which is also the key to the Pelicans' ability to successfully lock in the ninth place in the West!
I have to say that with the perfect integration of CJ McCollum, the Pelicans with the combined Pelicans of Ingram + Varan + CJ McCollum have indeed gradually become a team that cannot be underestimated in the West, and this also makes the Pelicans and Clippers playoff second round full of highlights!
From the paper lineup, the Pelicans have tall forward players such as Varan + Jaxon Hayes + Nance Jr. + Hernangomez on the inside, which does give the Pelicans a good height and size advantage.
Coupled with Ingram + CJ McCollum in the sky, the two major defensive players Herbert Jones + Alvarado are ready to go, and the energetic Pelicans seem to be causing a lot of trouble to the Clippers!
On the other hand, on the Clippers side, after Paul George returned from injury, although he still maintained a fairly good physical condition and competitive state, there is a saying that the team's offensive and defensive ends on the inside and back lines are indeed quite a gap compared with the Pelicans.
Coupled with the fact that the team's big player Kennard has been plagued by hamstring injuries, whether the second round against the Pelicans can return is still unknown, which invisibly makes the pressure come to the Clippers side!
Fortunately, for the second round of life and death against the Pelicans, as the team's star, Paul George has always had good confidence.
In an interview with the media, Paul George also made a bold statement, saying: "This is a game that either wins or goes home, I don't care who the opponent is, my mentality is to win, we have to win the game and continue our season." ”
In addition, the second round of the playoffs met the Pelicans, as the team's head coach, Terren Lu, in terms of platooning, will undoubtedly usher in a huge challenge and test.
Of course, for the Clippers, the second round of the playoff against the young Pelicans, the team is not completely without advantage!
After all, the team has home advantage in the next game, and from the perspective of game experience and lineup depth, with batum + Covington + Norman Powell and other veterans who have been in the battlefield for a long time, the Clippers' ability to resist pressure and core competitiveness at key moments will be a major X factor in the playoffs between the Clippers and the Pelicans!
It's just that for the Pelicans and Clippers, no matter which team eventually locks in eighth in the West and plays the first round of the playoffs against the Suns in the West, the test they have to face in the playoff series may have just begun!
As for who will die in the second round of the playoffs between the Clippers and pelicans, and which team will stand out and win the last ticket to the Western Conference playoffs, we seem to have to wait and see!