Every time the New Orleans Pelicans seem to pick a lane, they quickly veer into another one -- for better or worse.
That's what happened on Sunday as the team broke out of a four-game slump with an impressive victory over the Suns in a had-to-have-it game. New Orleans was led by a Zion Williamson performance that seemed out of nowhere, considering where he was at earlier in the week nursing a finger injury.
"That’s the best I’ve ever seen Zion play defense," the Cajun Cannon Bobby Hebert said on SportsTalk this week. "I mean ... you just never know with the Pels. Don’t go lay an egg in Portland."
Listen to the full interview with Bobby Hebert in the player above. Can't see the embed? Click here.
Williamson had 29 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 blocks in the elite performance, which put the Pelicans and Suns in a tie for the 6 seed at 46-32, the final spot to stay out of the play-in tournament. The Pelicans need to repeat that effort when they face off with the struggling Trail Blazers on Tuesday evening.
The Pelicans would have to win their final four games to hit the 50-win mark, which would be just the second time in franchise history -- joining the 2007-'08 Hornets that went 56-26 -- to achieve the feat. For that to happen, it'll take a lot more of that elite defense from Zion. Can he make that statement?
"I don’t know if we truly appreciate what the Hornets and Chris Paul and David West and Tyson Chandler, what they brought to the table. ... But I was kind of shocked, to tell you the truth, at how they played lately, how they took care of business in Phoenix,” Hebert continued.
After Portland, the Pelicans close their season with road games against the Kings and Warriors, then return home to host the Lakers in the regular season finale. The Suns, meanwhile, have back-to-back games against the Clippers, then travel to face the Kings and Timberwolves.
The Pelicans have been in the play-in tournament field each of the past two seasons, but avoiding that entirely would certainly be a step forward. The Pelicans advanced to the first round in the 2021-'22 season before losing to the Suns in six games. The Pelicans were eliminated by the Thunder in the first round of the play-in tournament a year ago. In both instances Williamson was absent with injuries.
"[Zion] has to live up to expectations, and hopefully right now … just for the local fans, if they can just be the 6 seed or, even if you have to do the play-in game, to win in the playoffs, to win a series," Hebert said. "You know, just so you can say that, well we’re trending in the right direction and hopefully that’ll be the case.”
