Shortly before the “trade deadline”, Brandon Ingram had confided that he had not suffered from his non-selection for the All-Star Game, preferring to focus on the qualification of the Pelicans in “postseason”.
For its wish to come true, its leaders attracted CJ McCollum in their nets to relieve him in attack, while helping him in his mission in the absence of Zion Williamson. This night, it is therefore with great pleasure that he scored only 10 points, finishing two assists from a triple-double with his 11 rebounds and 8 assists. “I’m not that sad, and at least I was able to rest in the last quarter”, did he slip after the game.
His sense of sacrifice mingled with this willingness of the Pelicans to play as a team. A state of mind that translates into 36 assists, a record for New Orleans this season.
” This is the identity that we want to display for our team. We wanted to focus on that tonight, just getting everyone involved, making sure the ball was flowing and we were taking the best shot possible. “, he continued.
“The more we continue to familiarize ourselves with each other’s game, the more matches we can play like this.”
Beyond the great 120-90 victory against the Raptors, the other real good news of the evening is the performance of CJ McCollum, author of a full match concluded with his first success in his new colors. “CJ is just a consummate professional. He did that for a bunch of years. He’s just a leader as a whole, and he does more or less the same thing when he comes to our team.”for his part entrusted his coach, Willie Green.
His production this night, with very little waste, and his rapid acclimatization testify indeed to his professionalism. The back also seems regenerated by this new challenge and this new environment, promising that the moult of the Pelicans has only just begun.
“We are starting to get to know each other better, to know where everyone likes to be on the pitch. I’m also starting to get to know the systems better, which also helps. We tried to invest their racket. Willie Green is doing a great job of showing us what we need to do and in this game we had a lot of good shooting situations.”, he explained. “The more we get to know each other’s game, the more matches we can play like this.”
New life-size test this evening against Memphis.
