The New Orleans Pelicans and Brooklyn Nets returned to the court on Wednesday as part of the first day of the return of basketball inside the NBA’s bubble in Orlando.
The Pelicans used a strong defense and a dominant second half to run away with a comfortable 99-68 over the Nets.
The Good: Basketball is back
More than anything, it was great to see basketball back. It’s hard to take much of anything of note from this game when making generalizations. The game was sloppy at times, though the Pelicans did look surprisingly sharp pretty early on.
Essentially, though, the Pelicans’ depth, something that has been a strength of their’s all season, was the difference as Brandon Ingram only played 11 minutes, Jrue Holiday played 16 and Lonzo Ball 19 and New Orleans still won convincingly.
Honorable Mentions: Kenrich Williams being healthy again, Pelicans defense, E’Twaun Moore still getting buckets
The Bad: The Nets postseason outlook
Yes, it is unfair to have a big takeaway from the first scrimmage game in Orlando but the Nets could be in big trouble. It’s not shocking that a team down its three best players would struggle but the degree to which Brooklyn could not score on Wednesday was startling.
Now, in fairness, Jamal Crawford, Tyler Johnson, Justin Anderson, Donta Hall and Joe Harris all did not play on the night along with Spencer Dinwiddie and DeAndre Jordan not making the trip to Orlando. But none of the players who will be available in Orlando in future games look set to make that much of a difference.
The Ball: Strong return
As noted, Ball only played 19 minutes on the night. After normal rotations in the first half, Ball played one more stint in the third quarter then never returned from the bench. He finished with eight points, three rebounds and three assists in a fairly straightforward game.
