The Pelicans' home struggles are no secret, and they had been laid bare during a six-game skid that left the team on the brink of missing the playoffs despite a 49-win regular season.
That's what prompted head coach Willie Green to pull out all the stops before a do-or-die play-in game against the Kings, with the Pelicans holding their morning shootaround at the Smoothie King Center for the first time all season. It's the type of setup they'd typically have on the road, where they had an NBA best 28 wins.
“It was important ... just reversing our minds, making us think that we were on the road," Green said.
The results would indicate that the reversal worked in a 105-98 victory over the Kings that sealed the Pelicans into a first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The matchup itself also played a role, with New Orleans finishing off a 6-0 sweep of Sacramento on the year, a run that also included a win during the mid-season tournament in Las Vegas.
"it was huge to get a win here at home," Green continued. "It’s been a struggle ... so it was big-time for our guys to pull together and get this win.”
The result helped the Pelicans avoid a stunning collapse after back-to-back home losses to the Lakers in games that could've punched a postseason ticket. It also provided significant optimism for New Orleans' chances despite the expectation that they'll be without Zion Williamson for the majority of the first round, if not more due to a hamstring injury. Williamson was spotted getting in rehab work at the facility this week, and there is optimism that he could potentially return should the Pelicans' stay in the playoffs be an extended one.
After finishing out the play-in loss to the Lakers on the bench due to struggles as he returned from his own injury, Brandon Ingram was aggressive from the opening tip and poured in 24 points, while adding 6 rebounds and 6 assists.
The Pelicans star hit timely shots and kept the game where New Orleans wanted it. He knew it, too. With a little over 3 minutes left in the first half, Ingram picked up his third foul and Green went to pull his star forward from the game to protect him from adding any more fouls. Ingram protested, asking his coach to trust that him. Green conceded, and Ingram did what he promised.
Related
"I thought I could control the game," Ingram said when asked why he was so adamant about remaining in the game. "I thought I controlled the game the first quarter, the second quarter and I knew that it was about time for us to go on a run and I’m not sure we scored, but we might’ve been up 8 and I know we could’ve pushed it to whatever, and I just wanted to stay on the floor and be a part of it.”
That trust is a big piece of why this Pelicans squad feels like it can hang with the top-seeded Kings, even without Williamson.
Another reason is familiarity. This is largely the same group that pushed through the play-in tournament to the playoff bracket two seasons ago, taking the top-seeded Suns to six games before falling against a Chris Paul master class. That was the rookie season for main rotation pieces in Herb Jones, Trey Murphy and Jose Alvarado. Murphy concedes that that group was just happy to be in the postseason that time around. This year they have bigger ambitions.
"This year we’re trying to make a run," Murphy said. "I think we’re just more experienced and have gone through a lot more as a group.”
For that run to happen, it'll likely take some more home cooking like the Pelicans found on Friday at the blender. That hasn't been the case in recent history, having lost the last four matchups with OKC at the Smoothie King Center, including a play-in defeat a year ago that ended New Orleans' season.
Snapping the home skid was the first step, and Larry Nance has a request for Pels fans as the team aims to make it a habit.
“It was nice that [in] our last home game before we come here and play again in the playoffs, we won in a playoff atmosphere and, you know, fans were great tonight, but I saw a few seats open up top," Nance said. "We’ve got to get them filled. We’re gonna need everybody, everybody screaming and yelling, and booing the OKC Thunder. We need it.”
Game 1 of the series between the Pelicans and Thunder will tip off at 8:30 p.m. Sunday in Oklahoma City.