The Pelicans led nearly wire-to-wire on Friday in New York, taking care of the Knicks by a final of 123-111.
The Good: Taking care of business
The key to making the playoffs is not beating playoff teams but beating the below .500 teams. If a team takes care of business in the games it should win, then the games against similarly-talented foes have a lot less weight to them.
Friday was one of those games against for the Pelicans and they won their second contest in a row against a sub-.500 team. They also made up a game in the playoff race in the process, now sitting just three games back with the Grizzlies knocking off Memphis.
So long as New Orleans continues taking care of business in the coming weeks and months, a playoff series will be in the cards.
Honorable mentions: Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, bench production
The Bad: No Zion
Zion Williamson has been missed for a lot of obvious reasons this season in New Orleans but its moments like Friday that his absence is particularly noticeable. As bad as the Knicks may be, there’s an aura that always surrounds Madison Square Garden. Watching him under the big lights on national television against his former teammate would have been incredibly fun.
Honorable mentions: Turnovers, free-throw shooting
The Ball: A low-key, efficient night
By his recently lofty standards, Friday was a relatively tame night for Lonzo Ball. Even then, he flirted with a triple-double by finishing with 15 points, 11 assists and six rebounds. Ball hit three of his seven three-pointers and six of his 14 attempts overall.
