A lot of unexpected things happened at the beginning of the season, so that the Pelicans' road to rebuilding was once again blocked, and the achievement of playoff goals was still far away. Because of the overeating and not being able to control his weight, Zion suffered an injury in training and could not make a comeback in time for the new season, knowing that in the second grade, he has played a peak data of 27 points per game, and it is only a matter of time before the talent of the champion is realized. However, he paid the due price because of his self-discipline, and seeing that the same year of Morant has shocked the world, Presumably Zion's heart is not a taste.
Without Zion's intimidation on the inside, the Pelicans started with a 1-12 record, which is simply a fish-belly team, and trying to make the playoffs is a fool's dream. But the NBA has always been a miracle place, no one stipulates that the team can not "open low and go high", anything is possible. Without Zion's presence, the Pelicans can't wait, or find a way to make the team go further. After all, there is still in the team in Ingram, which is a talented and proud son, and cannot just bury talent.
So we saw that the Pelicans, while having a large center, varand, hired young player Hayes to form a "twin tower" lineup. The team also traded with the Trail Blazers in the mid-to-late season, getting its second-in-command, CJ McCollum, a two-time two-time guard who scored explosively. At this point, the Pelicans form the core structure of "CJ + Warbler + Varan", and such a combination has a rich imagination in the offense:
CJ can complete the blocking and demolition tactics with Varan, with the help of Varan's wide body to get the space to shoot, and can also assist Varan to finish down, or to shoot three points outside; Varan can also hold the ball at the top of the arc to assist the Yingge or CJ who runs without the ball, and at the same time can pull the opponent's inner line out of the three-point line to break through the obstacles under the empty basket for CJ and Yingge's basket; Yingge, as the team's attacker, uses his height of two meters and six meters to complete the mid-range back jump shot with his back single, completely ignoring the opponent's defensive tactics.
So the Pelicans finished ninth in the West in the regular season, beat the Spurs and Clippers in the playoffs, and thus reached the long-lost playoffs, which is the first major goal since the reconstruction. Even without Zion, this team still played a very amazing performance on the field, and no one can believe that this team can still make the playoffs after suffering 1 win and 12 losses at the beginning of the season. That's the beauty of basketball, always surprising you and making your mood fluctuate up and down.
In the first round of G2 against the Suns, even though Booker scored 31 points in the first half, the Pelicans only lost five points. After the second half, the Pelicans turned the tide completely, and finally beat the Suns 125-114 to secure home advantage. Star Ingram cut down a quasi-triple-double all-around statistic of 37 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, which was his first playoff trip; with one mid-range dry jumper after another, the defense of Bridges and Crowder was wiped out.
The Suns without Booker are like tigers with their teeth pulled out, unable to match the Pelicans offensively, and even more unable to stop Ingram from scoring. At this point, the Pelicans have the opportunity to complete the black eight is not just a matter of talking, at least in the lineup alignment has taken advantage. The height of the Suns' starters Paul, Bridges, and Crowder cannot be compared with the Pelicans' Jones, Ingram, and Hayes, so they cannot interfere with Ingram's shooting offensively, and they are naturally at a disadvantage in rebounding.
Ingram can have the current performance, and really thanks to the Lakers' past deal, he got more opportunities to shoot. If you still stay with the Lakers and play next to James and Davis, then ingram's time to cash in on his talent will be postponed. But now, the warbler song, who has fulfilled the talent of the list eye, is about to crush Paul's dream of winning the championship.