In a perfect world, we’d see Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram taking on Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kevin Durant for this game, but injuries are likely to deny us of that for this New Orleans-Brooklyn Nets showdown. Still, this should be an exciting one to watch. Check out our preview of this game below.
The Pelicans made a return in the win column after scoring a 122-115 win over the Houston Rockets on the road. Prior to that, the Pels lost back to back against the Orlando Magic and the Atlanta Hawks, both at home. The Pelicans, who will have a rematch with Atlanta this Tuesday on the road, might not still have the services of their two best players in Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram for the Nets game due to injuries. This makes their availability for the Hawks game important to monitor, as those could paint a very clear picture of whether they’d be able to play in Brooklyn. In any case, the Pelicans have finally welcomed back Lonzo Ball, who also got sidelined multiple games. Ball had 27 points in the win over Houston.
The Pelicans, who are averaging 115.1 points per game this season, are 4-2 against the spread in their last six games as the road team against Brooklyn.
The Nets have also bounced back from a loss, as they took care of business at home giants the New York Knicks on Monday, 114-112. Before that, Brooklyn lost to the Chicago Bulls in Windy City on Sunday, 115-107. Kyrie Irving carried Brooklyn in the Knicks game, as he finished with 40 points on 15-of-28 shooting from the floor. Irving had to do so, with Kevin Durant still out and James Harden lasting just four minutes. Harden aggravated a right hamstring injury and should be viewed as questionable for Wednesday’s game against New Orleans. Durant, meanwhile, remains without a definite timetable, though there’s a glimmer of hope that he’ll be available this week. As long as the Nets have at least one of their superstars on the floor, they will always be a threat to any team. Over their last five games, Brooklyn has averaged 112.8 points on 47.7 percent shooting from the floor and 37.4 percent from deep.
