The objective was however displayed at the end of the All-Star Break. For Willie Green, the Pelicans should no longer be a “play-in” team but a team that qualifies directly for the playoffs.
It was off to a good start with a successful month of March, with 10 wins and 4 losses for the New Orleans franchise. But since the start of this series of six home games, Zion Williamson's squad has only won one, against Milwaukee. They lost to the Thunder, Celtics, Suns and Magic. All they have to do now is face San Antonio on Friday night before heading out on the road.
After this defeat against the Magic, Zion Williamson's teammates fell back to 7th place, synonymous with “play-in”. In an ultra-dense and tight Western Conference from 4th to 10th place, the Pelicans wasted ammunition at home. Enough to annoy the coach of the Louisiana franchise.
Bad news never comes alone
” It's frustrating “ he regrets. “But that's part of the game. It's not going to be easy to achieve our goal.” It’s part of the journey in the NBA. We had put ourselves in a very good position. But now we have to walk the path to the finish line. We have six games left, we need to come together.”
Falling behind the Suns is one thing, but the Pelicans also have injury problems. There was already Brandon Ingram, injured in the knee, who has been out for seven games. The All-Star winger only returned to action this week. To this hard blow, we must now add Zion Williamson, injured in the middle finger of his left hand. It was on a counter that the strong winger was hurt in the second quarter.
“Earlier in the match, my finger was hit several times”describes Zion Williamson. “When I tried to block Suggs, I went for it and hit him really hard against the backboard. »
Three expelled at once!
Willie Green preferred not to take any risks and did not play the former first choice of the 2019 Draft during the last seven minutes of the match against the Magic. It was on the bench and with a bandage around his finger that the power forward saw his teammates give in but also break down!
First, Zion Williamson set a bad example with a first technique. Then with 7 seconds left in the match, his teammates scored a rare “treble” as Herb Jones, Dyson Daniels and Trey Murphy III were all sent to the locker room in quick succession.
“Some whistles go our way, others go our opponents’ way” recalls Willie Green. “ At the end of the match, you have to keep your cool. We lost. Sometimes you have to be able to accept it.”
