NBA: San Antonio Spurs vs New Orleans Pelicans | 23 December, 9:00 AM (PST)

[Mary C]

Pelicans want to rebound against the Spurs despite being without their top scores. The New Orleans Pelicans were leading the Western Conference and on a seven-game winning streak less than two weeks ago. They have now lost four straight games, which have caused them to fall into third place. Losses to Phoenix and Milwaukee, both teams who had winning records, came after the losing run began with two games against Utah, which had a winning record.  

On Thursday night, New Orleans will take on the San Antonio Spurs, who are on the road and have the second worst record in the West. According to Pelicans guard CJ McCollum, “It’s part of the growing process. You’re going to go through times where everything is going great during the season. There’s also going to be time where you’re dealing with losing games, and you have to stop the bleeding. I think we have great chance with some games coming up to get back on the right track and truly see what we’re made of. I'm excited about the challenge. There are still a lot of games left in the season. It's just a matter of ebbs and flows and continuously playing the proper way, as well as attempting to develop winning habits.” 

The losing run began with a crushing defeat against Utah, but the previous three games have been far more competitive. In the second game, New Orleans lost in overtime to the Jazz, held a 24-point lead against the Suns before collapsing, then cut an 18-point fourth quarter deficit to three before dropping to Milwaukee on Monday. Coach Willie Green stated, “I love our fight.” “I told the guys that I love our energy, our fight, our effort. We just have to sustain it for 48 minutes.” 

Green stated during the practice on Wednesday that second-leading scorer Brandon Ingram, who has missed the past 11 games due to a bruised toe, will miss the game against the Spurs as well as at least one more. Zion Williamson, the team's leading scorer, will also be absent after following health and safety protocol on Wednesday. After dropping 11 consecutive games, the Spurs have won four of their past six. They defeated the Rockets 124-105 on Monday night in Houston, despite missing top scorer Keldon Johnson due to an injured back. Devin Vassell scored 26 points in his absence. 

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich said that “we had like six or seven guys play well on both side of the game.” They played with a lot more aggression in the second half, and winning an NBA game requires that. At the half, San Antonio was down by two points, but in the third quarter, San Antonio outscored Houston 32-14. The margin was subsequently increase to 97-76 after scoring the first five pints of the fourth quarter. Later in the period, the Spurs were up to 120-94.