On April 16, Beijing time, as the Pelicans won 105-101 in the last playoff life and death battle with the Clippers, the Pelicans also obtained a valuable ticket for the final train of the playoffs, which is also the Pelicans' second entry into the playoff stage since the 17-18 season, although it is the eighth seed, and in the first round, it ushered in the Suns, a powerful team that entered the Finals last season, but everyone still hopes that the Pelicans can stage the Black Eight miracle and strive to eliminate the Suns in the first round.
With a 1-12 start to get a playoff ticket, the Pelicans are another team to achieve this feat after the Sun Riders Bulls
The Pelicans were able to finally successfully enter the playoff stage after the Suns, cavaliers and Bulls at one point, becoming another team that achieved this feat after the Suns, Cavaliers and Bulls, and the new rookie coach Willie Green this season is absolutely indispensable, although there is no coaching experience, but Green has a wealth of assistant coaching experience before the Warriors and the Suns, so this time taking over such a young team as the Pelicans for the first time, let them enter another playoff stage after a gap of 4 years, it is really not easy, In particular, the team's inner core Zion Williamson has not played a game this season due to knee injury, which highlights the valuable point that the Pelicans can reach the playoffs.
The Pelicans made it to the playoffs, Zion was eager to fight, and fans thought the Pelicans could complete the Black Eight
And watching the team reach the playoffs, but also let the previous has been in a suspension of the state of Zion began to rub their fists, a little earlier according to ESPN reporter Andrew Lopez revealed that according to multiple sources, the Pelicans and Zion currently have a certain disagreement on whether he is healthy enough to play, and Zion thinks he is healthy enough to play, before the recent play-off game with the Spurs, Zion appeared on the court and easily completed a 360-degree dunk, In order to show their health is not a big problem, and this time with the Pelicans officially entered the playoffs, if you can get Zion's comeback, there are really many fans began to look forward to this dark horse team, an American netizen said on social media: The Pelicans can solve the sun in 6 games and complete the black eight miracle.
Offensive and defensive ends + manager are not advantages, and it is not realistic for the Pelicans to complete the black eight
It is true that the Pelicans have shown full resilience this season, but realistically speaking, if they want to really complete the Black Eight, even if Zion can come back, the probability of the Pelicans wanting to advance will be very low, and their efficiency at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends this season is only the level of the middle and lower reaches of the league. Offensive efficiency 111.2 ranked 19th in the league, defensive efficiency 112 ranked 18th in the league, and today's playoff with the Clippers, even if George is absent, but the Pelicans also play very hard, the whole team has and only Ingram scored 20+ (scored 30 points), and the backcourt core CJ who joined in the middle of this season only 9 of 24 shots, only scored 19 points, really have to face the Suns, which is both offensive and defensive, the ending can be reversed, the Suns defeated the Pelicans 4-2, It's already considered that the Pelicans can be successful.
And as the Pelicans in the 19th draft pick of the Champion Lang, Zion's desire to fight is indeed commendable, but even if he can get the opportunity to play, the Pelicans are now in this lineup, plus the coach is a rookie, want to be tough with the Sun, it is really a bit of a pebble, so for their own health, but also for the pelicans' future, Zion still dispels the idea of comeback, wait until next season is really fully recovered, and lead the Pelicans to come back with CJ and Ingram.