Who: New Orleans Pelicans vs. Chicago Bulls
When: Friday, Jan. 10, 7:15 p.m ET
Where: Madison Square Garden
How to watch: ESPN
When the schedules were released, New Orleans’ trip to Madison Square Garden was expected to be a huge highlight of the year, hence ESPN attaching itself to the contest. But like much of the Pelicans’ season to-date, the air has been taken out of the room due to Zion Williamson’s injury.
Instead of a showdown between former Duke teammates with Williamson playing on one of the hallowed grounds of professional basketball, it’s instead a meeting between two non-playoff teams.
What it does present, at least for the Pelicans, is another chance to inch closer to the playoffs. After the win over the Bulls on Wednesday, New Orleans is four games back of the playoffs with five teams between them and the eight seed. It’s a messy race that New Orleans still is on the fringes of, meaning wins in games like this are of more importance.
The Knicks sport the third-worst net rating with a defense that ranks 26th and an offense that ranks 27th. The team is 29th in effective field goal percentage in the league, per Cleaning the Glass, a mark that features the 29th-best field goal percentage at the rim and the 24th-best three-point percentage.
