Let's talk about pelicans.
In the first round of G3, the Pelicans lost to the Thunder 85-106 and fell behind 0-3.
If you remember, in G1, the Pelicans played the Thunder to the last minute without Zion, losing by only 2 points at 92-94, and it was thought that maybe this Pelicans could cause some problems for the Thunder.
However, the truth is cruel, G2 and G3, the Pelicans were beaten by the Thunder and were helpless.
G2, the Pelicans were beaten 34-22 by the Thunder in the first quarter, trailing by 12 points in a single quarter, and then never overtook again, losing 92-124 by 32 points.
G3, back to the Pelicans' home court, the situation still did not improve, and the Pelicans trailed by 14 points at halftime, 46-60, and trailed by as many as 24 points in the game.
Did you find a problem? The Pelicans only scored 92 points, 92 points, and 85 points in these three games, respectively, and the average score per game did not even reach 90 points.
Although the playoffs are more intense and slower-paced, and the scoring will fall, it is still too much for a team that averages 115.1 points per game in the regular season and ranks 11th in the league in offensive efficiency. Outrageous.
The team's offense is not good, and the first thing to look at is the state of the stars, so in the absence of Zion, only McCollum and Ingram will naturally come out to "pick up the pot".
Let's start with Ingram, so far in the series:
- G1, 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 5-of-17 shooting
- G2, 18 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 5-of-10 shooting
- G3, 19 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist, 7-of-14 shooting
In three games, he averaged 16.3 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, shooting 41.5% from the field, 40.0% from three-point range, and 52.4% from the field.
Except for a big pull in G1, G2 and G3's Ingram feel is actually not bad, but the problem is that Ingram's offensive desire is too low, and in Zion's absence, he should take on more responsibility, but in the past two games, he only scored 6 points on 5 shots in the fourth quarter, and he didn't look like he wanted to chase points at all.
For comparison, in the 2022 playoffs, Ingram, who played the playoffs for the first time at the time, also did not have Zion by his side, and then his performance was: averaging 27.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game, shooting 47.5%/40.7%/83.0% from three, and 58.4% true shooting rate.
Ingram is a player, he must have the ability, and he is still considered the top five most underrated players in the anonymous voting of TA players in the previous anonymous vote, but the problem is that his character really doesn't like to fight - there is reason to suspect that Ingram broke out two years ago because there was a Paul opposite.
And there is another point to say that Ingram is 26 years old this year, in fact, only one year older than Alexander opposite, but the current evaluation of the two is already a world apart, whether it is ability or leadership, Ingram has been completely destroyed by Alexander.
It's been four years since Ingram moved to the Pelicans and got the most improved player, but Ingram has not made breakthrough progress in the past four years, and even regressed.
If Ingram just doesn't have the desire to attack, then McCollum is a mess:
- G1, 20 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists, 9-of-22 shooting
- G2, 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 6-of-14 shooting
- G3, 16 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 7-of-22 shooting
In three games, McCollum averaged 17.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game, shooting 37.9% from the field, 22.7% from three-point range, 43.3% from the field, and 4.3 turnovers per game.
It is worth mentioning that in the previous two play-off games, McCollum's performance was also very bad:
- Played the Lakers, 9 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists, 4-of-15 shooting from the field and 1-of-9 from three-point range
- Played the Kings, 7 points, 2 rebounds and 3 assists, shooting 3-of-8 from the field and 1-of-2 from three-point range
In other words, from the play-offs to the playoffs, McCollum has played five games in a row, during which he shot 29-of-81 from the field and 35.8% from the field, and 7-of-33 from three-point range with a 21.2% shooting rate.
Objectively speaking, McCollum's performance in the regular season was really not bad, averaging 20.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, and only 1.7 turnovers, shooting 45.9% from the field, 42.9% from three-point range, and 59.2% from the field.
This is the most efficient time in McCollum's 11-year career, and because of this, there is some expectation for his playoff performance, and as a result, he played poorly - McCollum will be 33 years old next season, and the Pelicans will give him 33.33 million and 30.67 million in the next two years.
Seeing the two cores play like this, you can probably understand why the Pelicans can only average less than 90 points per game.
Fortunately, the series is not over yet, although the balance of victory has been completely tilted in favor of the Thunder, but at least the Pelicans don't let themselves lose too ugly, especially Ingram and McCollum, how to say that it is going to explode, right?