Brooklyn Nets vs. New Orleans Pelicans preview: Nets wrap up road trip

On November 12, 2024By Littum

The effort was there, but not the victory.

The Brooklyn Nets gave the undefeated Cleveland Cavaliers all they could handle, but the Cavs proved to be a little too much Saturday night in Ohio. The Nets have been competitive in pretty much every game this year. It provides fun viewing and valuable teaching tools for the future.

Tonight’s opponent experiences some more bad luck. The New Orleans Pelicans are stuck on a four-game losing streak after getting blown out by the Orlando Magic on Friday night. Worse yet, L is the least of their worries. We’ll get to that in a moment.

Where to follow the game

YES Network on TV. WFAN on the radio. Tips after 8:00 PM ET.

Injuries

No Bojan Bogdanovic, Trenton Watford or Day’ron Sharpe for the Nets. Dariq Whitehead is still with Long Island, as is Jaylen Martin. Tyrese Martin is with Brooklyn and so is Cui Yongxi. Ben Simmons is back after a rest day.

On Saturday, Zion Williamson was diagnosed with a hamstring strain and will be out indefinitely. Jordan Hawkins is out with a tight back. DeJounte Murray is out with a left hand fracture. CJ McCollum is out with a right adductor strain. Herb Jones is out with a right shoulder strain. Fortunately for Pels fans, Trey Murphy III is likely as he has been dealing with a right hamstring strain.

The game

Shot profile, shot profile, shot profile! For years, Pelican fans have been frustrated by the types of shots the team takes on offense and the shots they don’t generate for themselves. In a big story at In NOShamit Dua took a deep dive into New Orleans’ problems:

Last year, the Pelicans were 21st in rim and three rate, despite a largely healthy year from the group. This year, the Pelicans are 3rd in the league in mid-range frequency and 2nd in long twos taken — trailing only the Kings (more on that in a second). Also, the Pelicans rely on the mid-range more than any other category. They have taken 271 mid-tone images per Cleaning The Glass compared to 270 threes and only 224 rim attempts. In fact, in every single year of Willie Green’s tenure, the Pelicans have taken more mid-range attempts than rim attempts. This is a stark departure from the shooting profile of the Stan Van Gundy team, which was FIRST in rim frequency, 23rd in medium frequency and 11th overall in rim and three speeds…

Such consistent changes in profile are symptoms of larger structural problems. The Pelicans offense seems more interested in letting players get looks they are comfortable in rather than forcing opponents to put two on the ball, get into rotation and create “good” looks. Again, I don’t want to discount the impact of injuries – the Pelicans will undoubtedly improve as the year goes on. I just don’t think the improvement will come because there was a concerted effort to bring about change. It will be talent-based.”

With teams more conscious of getting rim attempts and threes, New Orleans could find themselves falling too far behind if they don’t execute correctly.

For the Nets, they will look to control the boards tonight. New Orleans is 25th in rebounding rate, which should lead to a big night for Nic Claxton. Clax has grabbed double-digit boards in each of the last two games, and the Nets will count on him to control the interior. Ben Simmons will be back and chances are he will come off the bench tonight. Simmons is a great change of pace and the Nets will look to get out in transition as much as possible when he steps on the court.

This season is a learning experience for everyone on the Nets. And for Jordi Fernandez, we’ll see what he learned from Saturday after admitting he overworked his starters in the fourth quarter. With Simmons back, the Nets have one more player they can turn to in the earlier stages of the game. There is some good talent on the second unit and for the coach we will see how he handles things all night if we get another close game late. And with this being the third game in four nights, bench players like Jalen Wilson and Noah Clowney figure to see a good amount of run in the Big Easy.

Player to watch: Brandon Ingram

All alone again. Brandon Ingram has had to do it all for the Pelicans now that most of the offensive firepower is stuck on the injured list. Seriously, the Pels’ leaders second through fifth in field goal attempts per game are out! Ingram is still most comfortable in the midrange, but when he gets downhill, big things tend to happen

Pels must keep coming to the cup. It starts with Ingram, and if he can commit to trading some of those 18-footers for baskets, it could get him back to the All Star Game.

Cam Johnson has made at least three three-pointers in each of his last four games, and tonight he gets the second-worst three-point defense in the NBA so far. The Pelicans are allowing teams to shoot 38.1 percent from three-point range, second-highest in the league. That’s a bad recipe against a Nets team that always looks for threes and for a player like CJ who can get hot in a hurry. If the Pelicans

From the Vault

of the year Weezyana Fest was about reunions as the Hot Boys and Big Tymers performed together for the first time in ages. With that in mind, let’s pull a double play!