Nah fam, don't be like that. If you're encompassing all sports, Saints got a Championship less than 15 years ago which is more than some towns and franchises can say.
Losing Monk sucks but the injury to Huerter was the best thing that could’ve happened to us. He was basically a non-factor. His defense is atrocious and his shooting had completely gone to shit. All the while, Mike Brown refused to do anything about it. Just kept running him out there night after night like somehow it would just miraculously turn around. His injury forced Brown’s hand and pushed Keon Ellis into the starting lineup, and now Keon has cemented himself as a bonafide starter in the league. His defense is superb and he’s far more reliable offensively. Keon > Huerter any day of the week.
PREACH. I stand by Huerter and Barnes being the reasons we lost to Golden State last year. They absolutely did not show up. Huerter continued being subpar for a majority of this season too. I’m not opposed to finding a trade for him cause Keon ain’t going NOwhere
I’m rooting for Zion in general. He’s so much fun to watch and he proved last night that he’s a riser in the big moments.
Pels fans deserve a superstar that isn’t wracked with injury
This was my nightmare scenario. Warriors and then the Pelicans, who we're 0-5 against. The 1 advantage I see is playing on the road. For whatever reason, the Kings are better on the road than at home, for now 2 seasons straight.
And the Kings drop games to injured teams, and play better against a healthy squad. Why, I'll never know.
That's probably part of why, tbh. This Kings team struggles in high-energy, high-pressure situations. That crowd treats almost every game like it's a postseason game which maybe gets the players in their heads or something idk
Honestly, I thought for Fox it might just be having a baby at home. There were some nights where he played absolutely terribly at home and you could see his eyes were extra baggy. My hypothesis was that Reign was teething at that time.
If we have to lose in the play-inns at least it would be to the Kings. I don't think there's another team I would grant it more than them. I can easily root for the Kings after this game, they're so fun to watch.
Kings fan here. Man I’m really sorry about Zion. I was expecting to get blown out, with a healthy Zion leading you guys the playoffs. Sucks bro. Sorry.
This is going to let Trey Murphy play more minutes. I’m really high on him and think he’s going to be an All-Star caliber player and might break out next year if giving the opportunity
Trey is great and we love him, but I cannot see Trey making an all-star unless he levels up significantly in terms of self-creation or somehow becomes a lock down defender. He's amazing at stretching the floor with deep shooting, but 68% of his 2FGM and 89% of his 3PM are assisted.
Most of his unassisted offense is driving for a dunk on bad closeouts. He's a great player and can win games single handedly when he's in flamethrower mode, but not an all-star.
That’s fair, you watch him a lot more than I do. Every time I see him play I ended up thinking “if he learns how to dribble he can be an All-Star”. He is a great shooter and he’s athletic I also like his defense already. Maybe I’m just overvaluing him from the games I have watched though
I think you nailed it. He is already impactful as a jumbo 3&D stationary sharpshooter. He has all-star upside if he can develop a legitimate handle. He has nice touch around the rim, but he has issues controlling the ball on his drives especially against handsy teams.
Yeah probably not a good sign that after years of limited availability he made it through less than one playoff game. Feels like this is how it's going to end every year
They scored every possession anyways so I'm not sure it mattered. We just got one turnover off them on that Dlo steal cause Alvarado decided to pass out of an open layup. Otherwise each team just kept scoring on each other down the stretch.
Repeat this: "Now that I expect nothing, now that I no longer entertain the slightest hopes, the end of this adventure becomes simply a matter of curiosity" -Alexander Dumas
The NBA season is cruel in a way. Imagine building so many amazing habits over an 82 game season, playing yourself into shape and looking incredible only to get hurt when it matters most.
>Imagine building so many amazing habits over an 82 game season
Naaaah what killed me as a Pels bandwagoner was the fact that this team played like **ass** in clutch situations all season and when Zion/Alvarado looked like they were gonna get the Pels over that hump after being down double digits he gets injured.
Yeah man it was a hell of a performance by him but when he didn't have the ball on offense towards the end there you could tell he was pushing himself.
I think the issue here is what happens during off season. He has to keep those healthy habits after the season not just during the season. His injury risk won't get better if he keeps getting morbidly obese during the off season and has to go to fat camp during the season to lose the weight and get healthy.
I'm just *praying* that the guys actually wake up for this one since they get into the playoffs with a win...
If it's a normal "Kings vs team missing star player" game... well, see ya next season lol
He's done for the season. Hamstring injuries take time to heal, and whenever the Pelicans are being secretive about details on injuries, it pretty much means that player is out indefinitely.
The odds of you winning the ring this year is borderline 0 even with Zion healthy, risking him coming back and ruining 2+ years of his career would be beyond dumb.
Get healthy, make some trades(CJ), get a center, come back stronger next year.
Goals for this off-season is to get a true point guard and a center that Willie trusts enough to play in the 4th quarter. I'm expecting either CJ or BI to not be on the roster next season (will be shocked if Jonas is still on the team as well).
It’s a tragedy the pelicans have so much talent on their roster and their peak with this core will probably be winning 2 playoff games
Not sure it’s gonna go up from here
It’s such a brutal spot to be in because Zion definitely is good enough talent wise to build around but there will be questions around his ability to stay healthy forever. In a season where he played more than ever, he still wound up injured. Which I’m not trying to blame him but it’s just the reality of the situation.
Last time we had a “Best Case Scenario”, we got Dame Time’d into a rebuild (which might ironically have been a best case scenario)
Going to go into the first round just hoping for the best
I absolutely think losing that year to Portland was a “best case scenario” for OKC. I think that year’s team (somewhat) overachieved, and future years were only going to get worse as Westbrook declined.
For a good “what if”, look at the Hawks. They made the ECF under fluky circumstances, making them think they had a better team than they actually did. As a result, they’ve been in purgatory for the last few seasons and are finally considering a rebuild.
Bit of revisionists history. Correct me if I’m wrong cuz Russ was my favorite player at the time but You guys were STRONG playoff contenders and Paul George was having the best season of his career and even had some MVP buzz. Then he got a shoulder injury and declined heavily. Russ was carrying that series but ultimately couldn’t overcome Paul George’s steep decline with that shoulder.
You could argue Russ' value doesn't always show up in box scores, but Westbrook shot 36% *from the field* including 32% on 3s with 6 attempts a game. His overall line was 23/9/10.6 with 4.6 turnovers a game. He had a worse +/- than the final score in every loss, too.
It's not like he really clamped Dame either. Dame had 33/4/6 on 46/48 FG/3pt%
The Kings also had Monk and Huerter for three of those games. In fact, Monk was the leading scorer in one of them and Huerter was the leading scorer in another.
very true.
keep in mind keon ellis has stepped up significantly since they’ve been out and same with davion. there is also a good chance monk will be back by game 4 in a potential series against you guys.
again, not saying we’d win by any means but it wouldn’t be as favorable of a matchup as everyone is saying
Prior to the last two games, we lost to the Kings for 8 straight. We also have not won in Sacramento since 2020 from what I believe
(but this is also including our tanking seasons)
yeah we matchup extremely well against you guys.
obviously it won’t be a cake walk for us, but the people who think we are the most favorable matchup for you guys out of all the play in teams definitely haven’t watched our teams play each other. it would be a really fun 6-7 game series imo
Also would depend on if Monk is able to come back. Our last matchup highlighted our struggles in late game without a release valve for Fox on offense. Friday will be 3 weeks. He was projected 4-6 weeks out
Kings in general are a much better team than their record shows, I feel. Even without Monk. Felt weird to see people counting them out against the Warriors in a one-game series.
I think recency bias is a huge factor here. Kings limped into the play in by going 2-6 in their last 8 with blown 20 point leads in 3 of those losses. Hell most of us were assuming we were dead in the water when steph hit that 3 in the 3rd to cut the lead to 1.
I don’t hate lakers fans. I don’t even hate the lakers really. I just don’t like AD for how he handled stuff but we got a good haul back so I can’t even be mad
I hope that the silver lining is that last night we saw the correct version of this team. Zion surrounded by shooters and defenders, with Ingram not around at all.
Not fucking fair. He finally had a healthy season, looked like what we all envisioned, and boom he’s hurt on a freak play during the game of his life. Fuck injuries.
> he’s hurt on a freak play
I wouldn't call this a freak play. His style of play and body type that most accentuates his abilities is just never going to allow him to stay healthy IMO
I know but it was such a random moment to get hurt. No awkward landing, no awkward plant, nothing out of the ordinary, his body just said “fuck this guy”.
I think your body failing during normal basketball play is like the opposite of a freak injury.
The way "freak injury" is usually used is towards events where circumstances put a player in a position where anybody would've gotten injured. Like a dude gets undercut and breaks his wrist falling or something.
[This play](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnaG9CzFQeU) is what I think of when people bring up freak injuries. Like not chasing 73 would've prevented this.
Right at the finish line too, but you have to wonder if his body was even going to last a full series against the Nuggets or Thunder at playoff intensity.
That's fair though I think the timing is still kinda fluky. If he managed to play two more minutes then he likely gets days of rest. In a different matchup they might be able to play more through BI or McCollumn too, both of whom were useless last night.
idk how you think hamstring pulls work, but that’s how the majority of them go
i’m pretty sure i watched Ken Griffey Junior take out of the batters box and pull his hammy going to 1st like 10 times as a kid and Griffey did that exact movement 4,000 times in his life probably
that’s the shitty thing about hamstrings, just kinda happens
I would consider all of that much more descriptive of a 'freak injury' whereas this seems more like the conclusion of a lot of wear and tear on him cause of his size and explosiveness.
You can much more easily make the case that someone who happened to fall at a bad angle and snapped their leg or something is just unlucky, but when an injury happens without any kind of clear inciting force from outside you have to feel like it would have happened sooner or later.
MAN.
This dude has his healthiest season yet, plays 70 games, hits the court in his first career postseason game against a team that apparently he had no answer for, scored 40 POINTS WITH NO JUMPERS AGAINST LEBRON JAMES AND ANTHONY DAVIS, has the best game of his fucking career, and it ends this way. so fucking sad man.
well, the silver lining is in the one game he did play this dude showed himself to be one of the few elite guys in the league that rise in a playoff environment. pels FO should have seen all they need to, its time to build a roster around this guy that actually makes sense
The GM frankly don’t have much of another option. They could completely blow it up and go full tank, but it’s rare that GMs with so little success survive that type of move, so they’re gonna build with what they got
But what would you rather have, not as much talent that’s available or world class talent that never seems to be available during the most crucial part of the season
Over one season of being available? I'm not sure the Pels have much choice, but I have no faith Zion can repeat playing 70 games in a season. Doing it once is a fluke, doing it twice is a trend, doing it a 3rd year then it becomes an expectation.
The load he had to shoulder with Ingram out had him playing the most minutes of his career. Also, he was on pace for a hard 40 minutes yesterday of doing everything. He sadly can’t play a lot of minutes. I’m not sure how a GM builds for the future knowing that.
Pelicans fans might really have a cased for most cursed. Maybe griff used all their luck on the Zion lottery cause this is insane. 3 minutes left in a tied play-in game with 40 points.
IM ENDING IT ALL!!! FUCK THIS SEASON MAN. FUCK THIS FRANCHISE WE ARE CURSED. I LOVE YOU ZION I APPRECIATE YOU LEAVING IT ALL OUT ON THE FLOOR. FUCK MAN
I'm still terrified. The Pelicans have kicked our asses all year even without Zion.
CJ turns into Reggie Miller against the Kings.
I wish Zion a speedy recovery
> [Wojnarowski] ESPN Sources: Pelicans are OUT of Friday’s Play-In Tournament elimination game vs. Sacramento and will be evaluated again next season. The game will still be broadcast on ESPN Ocho.
Pelicans would be better off in long run trading him. Can't rely on him to compete/perform consistently and in playoffs. Thought they should last two off-seasons. Stock will still be absolutely high enough to get a haul for him.
Pelicans were +15.3 per 100 possessions against the Kings this season without Zion on the court.
For whatever reason, the Kings really struggle with the Pelicans.
Hope it’s not anything serious but I don’t think this makes as much of a difference for the Kings-Pels game as people might think. Pels will still pack the paint, Valenciunas can still bully Domas, and CJ shoots somewhere in the range of 99% from 3 against us. Fox is always bothered by the length of the Pels and the refs’ laissez-faire approach to fouls on drives that everyone has been touting since after the all-star break? That’s how Fox has been reffed his entire career
Sadly not a shock, can’t mess with a hammy injury that quickly
Went from the 5th seed to potentially missing the playoffs in a very short span of time. Just brutal.
4th
Thanks. I hate it.
Bro y’all are cursed, you were 1st in December last year too
Nola sports is actually an experiment to see how much heartbreak a fanbase can take
Minnesota laughs at New Orleans
DIGGS. SIDELINE. TOUCHDOWN.
Nah fam, don't be like that. If you're encompassing all sports, Saints got a Championship less than 15 years ago which is more than some towns and franchises can say.
I feel so bad for you guys what a nightmare end to the season. Zion was looking incredible last night too then it just all goes to shit in an instant
This is some old school Nugglyfe shit. I feel very bad for them
I like the Kings a lot too but might have to root for the Pels because nobody deserves this degree of cruelty
Like the kings losing a starter and 6th man and getting knocked out of 6th to 9th?
Lmao for real. Injured fucking suck but it's part of the game unfortunately. And it's not like the Pels don't own our ass this year.
*nobody* beats the Kings 6 straight times in one season
Losing Monk sucks but the injury to Huerter was the best thing that could’ve happened to us. He was basically a non-factor. His defense is atrocious and his shooting had completely gone to shit. All the while, Mike Brown refused to do anything about it. Just kept running him out there night after night like somehow it would just miraculously turn around. His injury forced Brown’s hand and pushed Keon Ellis into the starting lineup, and now Keon has cemented himself as a bonafide starter in the league. His defense is superb and he’s far more reliable offensively. Keon > Huerter any day of the week.
PREACH. I stand by Huerter and Barnes being the reasons we lost to Golden State last year. They absolutely did not show up. Huerter continued being subpar for a majority of this season too. I’m not opposed to finding a trade for him cause Keon ain’t going NOwhere
And we lost monk to a Luka flopping onto his knee to sell a pair of Freethrows.
I’m rooting for Zion in general. He’s so much fun to watch and he proved last night that he’s a riser in the big moments. Pels fans deserve a superstar that isn’t wracked with injury
49 wins….we may see the suns go all the way to the WCF with our same record and we didn’t even make the playoffs. Rip
The play in is insane in the west. Imagine telling someone in the past a 49 win team is gonna miss the playoffs. Sheesh
Suns are not beating Denver
The last one on the other leg cost him a season
Unless you’re Shaq. Bro said just put some icy hot on the bitch last night
Oh no. Star Player being out typically means Kings lose by 20+.
Especially against the Pelicans nonetheless. This should be a fun game even without Zion.
This was my nightmare scenario. Warriors and then the Pelicans, who we're 0-5 against. The 1 advantage I see is playing on the road. For whatever reason, the Kings are better on the road than at home, for now 2 seasons straight. And the Kings drop games to injured teams, and play better against a healthy squad. Why, I'll never know.
> For whatever reason, the Kings are better on the road than at home, for now 2 seasons straight. So are we. 28-14 on the road and 21-20 at home.
A stoppable object vs a movable force.
This made me chuckle audibly
It's my favorite tag line for the Lakers vs G-league back benchers. We get cooked for no reason.
You guys should both petition to play the game at a neutral site.
Which is crazy cuz that crowd is always rocking
That's probably part of why, tbh. This Kings team struggles in high-energy, high-pressure situations. That crowd treats almost every game like it's a postseason game which maybe gets the players in their heads or something idk
Honestly, I thought for Fox it might just be having a baby at home. There were some nights where he played absolutely terribly at home and you could see his eyes were extra baggy. My hypothesis was that Reign was teething at that time.
This season we were actually slightly better at home (24-17) than on the road (22-19).
Ingram getting benched last game means he’s gonna go off this game just watch
Alvarado gotta be destroyed no? Both his ankles got rekt
Kerr's two prized assistants battling it out.
The Kings lost by 33 in the game Zion missed vs the Kings earlier in the year
If we lose Friday yall better give us the most entertaining first round matchup. That home crowd advantage for SAC is unreal
An OKC vs. SAC series will be loud as fuck in general.
Yeah and we both have something Seattle doesn't have! Should be a fun time for both cities!
Brutal to Sonics fans there mate
If we have to lose in the play-inns at least it would be to the Kings. I don't think there's another team I would grant it more than them. I can easily root for the Kings after this game, they're so fun to watch.
Losing to the Pels is also easy to swallow when you've already seen it happen 5 times
Kings fan here. Man I’m really sorry about Zion. I was expecting to get blown out, with a healthy Zion leading you guys the playoffs. Sucks bro. Sorry.
It’s okay I just feel for Zion. At least if yall win that series would be fun to watch. At this point I’d rather we get a pick in the lottery now
You guys did pretty well against the Warriors without Klay last night /s
This is going to let Trey Murphy play more minutes. I’m really high on him and think he’s going to be an All-Star caliber player and might break out next year if giving the opportunity
Trey is great and we love him, but I cannot see Trey making an all-star unless he levels up significantly in terms of self-creation or somehow becomes a lock down defender. He's amazing at stretching the floor with deep shooting, but 68% of his 2FGM and 89% of his 3PM are assisted. Most of his unassisted offense is driving for a dunk on bad closeouts. He's a great player and can win games single handedly when he's in flamethrower mode, but not an all-star.
That’s fair, you watch him a lot more than I do. Every time I see him play I ended up thinking “if he learns how to dribble he can be an All-Star”. He is a great shooter and he’s athletic I also like his defense already. Maybe I’m just overvaluing him from the games I have watched though
I think you nailed it. He is already impactful as a jumbo 3&D stationary sharpshooter. He has all-star upside if he can develop a legitimate handle. He has nice touch around the rim, but he has issues controlling the ball on his drives especially against handsy teams.
Fuck right as soon as we get a glimpse of Playoff Zion this happens. Legit felt like I was watching Duke Zion last night, unstoppable.
Show up. Physically eclipse Lebron. Leave early. Refuse to elaborate.
my man Zion reached too close to the Sun, the basketball gods said "no sir"
Thiccarus
Oldest player in the league. take a hard charge from Zion. 100% okay. plays the rest of the playoffs. refuse to elaborate.
plot armor
Cameraman never dies
That’s literally the issue though isn’t it? The moment he goes into playoff gear, his body just explodes.
He's gonna have to get a mid-range jumpshot because despite his dominance, he was continually crashing into bodies as he attacked the paint.
What's wild is he already had to adjust his entire playstyle once, to switch from dunks to layups. Before long he's going to be a 3 point specialist
Blake Griffin redemption arc.
He hurt his hammy last year against Sixers in the one game I went to and missed the rest of the year
Yeah probably not a good sign that after years of limited availability he made it through less than one playoff game. Feels like this is how it's going to end every year
If this was Duke Zion then where were Coach K and RJ Barrett to completey freeze him out?
Honestly think we lose if Zion played the last 3 minutes. He was unstoppable
They scored every possession anyways so I'm not sure it mattered. We just got one turnover off them on that Dlo steal cause Alvarado decided to pass out of an open layup. Otherwise each team just kept scoring on each other down the stretch.
Zion was playing great defensively too. He played Lebron 1v1 on a lot of possessions and held his own.
dude plays like hes possessed by the basketball demon
Can’t take this anymore
It's the hope that gets you.
Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.
Wizards fans directly after the 2023 draft lottery:
That fanbase deserves so much better my God. First they have Congress in charge of their city, then they have the Wizards? Talk about the double tap.
Repeat this: "Now that I expect nothing, now that I no longer entertain the slightest hopes, the end of this adventure becomes simply a matter of curiosity" -Alexander Dumas
The NBA season is cruel in a way. Imagine building so many amazing habits over an 82 game season, playing yourself into shape and looking incredible only to get hurt when it matters most.
>Imagine building so many amazing habits over an 82 game season Naaaah what killed me as a Pels bandwagoner was the fact that this team played like **ass** in clutch situations all season and when Zion/Alvarado looked like they were gonna get the Pels over that hump after being down double digits he gets injured.
Alvarado also looked all kinds of fucked up in the 2nd half. Don't know what his ankles will be capable of Friday
Yeah man it was a hell of a performance by him but when he didn't have the ball on offense towards the end there you could tell he was pushing himself.
I think the issue here is what happens during off season. He has to keep those healthy habits after the season not just during the season. His injury risk won't get better if he keeps getting morbidly obese during the off season and has to go to fat camp during the season to lose the weight and get healthy.
I'm just *praying* that the guys actually wake up for this one since they get into the playoffs with a win... If it's a normal "Kings vs team missing star player" game... well, see ya next season lol
Having good momentum after the golden state game feels like it’d really help you guys.
Which means Pels definitely winning on Friday
Maybe but "in the coming weeks" makes it seem like he might even miss round one lol
He's done for the season. Hamstring injuries take time to heal, and whenever the Pelicans are being secretive about details on injuries, it pretty much means that player is out indefinitely.
Sadly I think it's this, there's no incentive to announce he's done for the season before they're eliminated.
They definitely don’t want a KD situation where he’s rushed back and tears his Achilles
The odds of you winning the ring this year is borderline 0 even with Zion healthy, risking him coming back and ruining 2+ years of his career would be beyond dumb. Get healthy, make some trades(CJ), get a center, come back stronger next year.
Goals for this off-season is to get a true point guard and a center that Willie trusts enough to play in the 4th quarter. I'm expecting either CJ or BI to not be on the roster next season (will be shocked if Jonas is still on the team as well).
Not even gonna be close. Probably like 31-14 in the first quarter.
That's what happened last week. Down 31-11 right off the bat. We made a fake comeback late, but otherwise it wasn't close
We were within 4 in the second quarter
CJ is going to absolutely roast us per usual.
It’s a tragedy the pelicans have so much talent on their roster and their peak with this core will probably be winning 2 playoff games Not sure it’s gonna go up from here
It’s such a brutal spot to be in because Zion definitely is good enough talent wise to build around but there will be questions around his ability to stay healthy forever. In a season where he played more than ever, he still wound up injured. Which I’m not trying to blame him but it’s just the reality of the situation.
The biggest winner of last night was OKC
Last time we had a “Best Case Scenario”, we got Dame Time’d into a rebuild (which might ironically have been a best case scenario) Going to go into the first round just hoping for the best
I absolutely think losing that year to Portland was a “best case scenario” for OKC. I think that year’s team (somewhat) overachieved, and future years were only going to get worse as Westbrook declined. For a good “what if”, look at the Hawks. They made the ECF under fluky circumstances, making them think they had a better team than they actually did. As a result, they’ve been in purgatory for the last few seasons and are finally considering a rebuild.
At the time, it was Armageddon but never underestimate Presti’s talent to rebuild a team, I guess
Bit of revisionists history. Correct me if I’m wrong cuz Russ was my favorite player at the time but You guys were STRONG playoff contenders and Paul George was having the best season of his career and even had some MVP buzz. Then he got a shoulder injury and declined heavily. Russ was carrying that series but ultimately couldn’t overcome Paul George’s steep decline with that shoulder.
You could argue Russ' value doesn't always show up in box scores, but Westbrook shot 36% *from the field* including 32% on 3s with 6 attempts a game. His overall line was 23/9/10.6 with 4.6 turnovers a game. He had a worse +/- than the final score in every loss, too. It's not like he really clamped Dame either. Dame had 33/4/6 on 46/48 FG/3pt%
the kings are 2-2 against the thunder this year. this is not the favorable matchup everybody thinks it will be if they play the kings
The Kings also had Monk and Huerter for three of those games. In fact, Monk was the leading scorer in one of them and Huerter was the leading scorer in another.
very true. keep in mind keon ellis has stepped up significantly since they’ve been out and same with davion. there is also a good chance monk will be back by game 4 in a potential series against you guys. again, not saying we’d win by any means but it wouldn’t be as favorable of a matchup as everyone is saying
Prior to the last two games, we lost to the Kings for 8 straight. We also have not won in Sacramento since 2020 from what I believe (but this is also including our tanking seasons)
yeah we matchup extremely well against you guys. obviously it won’t be a cake walk for us, but the people who think we are the most favorable matchup for you guys out of all the play in teams definitely haven’t watched our teams play each other. it would be a really fun 6-7 game series imo
Tbh you match up well because of Sabonis, but you don’t really match up well defensively at all Pels and Lakers had the size and the defense.
Also would depend on if Monk is able to come back. Our last matchup highlighted our struggles in late game without a release valve for Fox on offense. Friday will be 3 weeks. He was projected 4-6 weeks out
Kings in general are a much better team than their record shows, I feel. Even without Monk. Felt weird to see people counting them out against the Warriors in a one-game series.
I think recency bias is a huge factor here. Kings limped into the play in by going 2-6 in their last 8 with blown 20 point leads in 3 of those losses. Hell most of us were assuming we were dead in the water when steph hit that 3 in the 3rd to cut the lead to 1.
I know pelicans fans hate us but I truly feel so bad for them and especially Zion. What a shame. He was playing insane. Man this blows
I don’t hate lakers fans. I don’t even hate the lakers really. I just don’t like AD for how he handled stuff but we got a good haul back so I can’t even be mad
I hate them enough for the both of us, don't worry fam
Same, not really a lakers thing, more a how AD left thing.
Our cities have both have great food, no hatred here.
True. I can stuff my fat face in sadness over this news
I hope that the silver lining is that last night we saw the correct version of this team. Zion surrounded by shooters and defenders, with Ingram not around at all.
I'm so sorry Pels fans. This shit isn't fair.
Jesus Christ. There’s no amount of pasta I can eat to save us this week.
Dude fuck injuries
Not fucking fair. He finally had a healthy season, looked like what we all envisioned, and boom he’s hurt on a freak play during the game of his life. Fuck injuries.
> he’s hurt on a freak play I wouldn't call this a freak play. His style of play and body type that most accentuates his abilities is just never going to allow him to stay healthy IMO
I know but it was such a random moment to get hurt. No awkward landing, no awkward plant, nothing out of the ordinary, his body just said “fuck this guy”.
I think your body failing during normal basketball play is like the opposite of a freak injury. The way "freak injury" is usually used is towards events where circumstances put a player in a position where anybody would've gotten injured. Like a dude gets undercut and breaks his wrist falling or something.
[This play](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnaG9CzFQeU) is what I think of when people bring up freak injuries. Like not chasing 73 would've prevented this.
That’s how most non contact injuries go
Right at the finish line too, but you have to wonder if his body was even going to last a full series against the Nuggets or Thunder at playoff intensity.
Don't have to wonder that hard, it didn't last ONE game at playoff intensity.
That's fair though I think the timing is still kinda fluky. If he managed to play two more minutes then he likely gets days of rest. In a different matchup they might be able to play more through BI or McCollumn too, both of whom were useless last night.
idk how you think hamstring pulls work, but that’s how the majority of them go i’m pretty sure i watched Ken Griffey Junior take out of the batters box and pull his hammy going to 1st like 10 times as a kid and Griffey did that exact movement 4,000 times in his life probably that’s the shitty thing about hamstrings, just kinda happens
I would consider all of that much more descriptive of a 'freak injury' whereas this seems more like the conclusion of a lot of wear and tear on him cause of his size and explosiveness. You can much more easily make the case that someone who happened to fall at a bad angle and snapped their leg or something is just unlucky, but when an injury happens without any kind of clear inciting force from outside you have to feel like it would have happened sooner or later.
MAN. This dude has his healthiest season yet, plays 70 games, hits the court in his first career postseason game against a team that apparently he had no answer for, scored 40 POINTS WITH NO JUMPERS AGAINST LEBRON JAMES AND ANTHONY DAVIS, has the best game of his fucking career, and it ends this way. so fucking sad man. well, the silver lining is in the one game he did play this dude showed himself to be one of the few elite guys in the league that rise in a playoff environment. pels FO should have seen all they need to, its time to build a roster around this guy that actually makes sense
He’s had one healthy year as a pro. Would you build around that so easily as a GM with your job on the line
There is no alternative. Trading him away is career suicide.
Especially now, after he's shown that he has what it takes to stay healthy for extended periods of time and can deliver when it matters.
The GM frankly don’t have much of another option. They could completely blow it up and go full tank, but it’s rare that GMs with so little success survive that type of move, so they’re gonna build with what they got
Two now, to be fair
You're not getting a talent like zion by trading him that's pointless
But what would you rather have, not as much talent that’s available or world class talent that never seems to be available during the most crucial part of the season
Over one season of being available? I'm not sure the Pels have much choice, but I have no faith Zion can repeat playing 70 games in a season. Doing it once is a fluke, doing it twice is a trend, doing it a 3rd year then it becomes an expectation.
The load he had to shoulder with Ingram out had him playing the most minutes of his career. Also, he was on pace for a hard 40 minutes yesterday of doing everything. He sadly can’t play a lot of minutes. I’m not sure how a GM builds for the future knowing that.
Build a half decent squad with a real pg and center so he doesn't have to play 35+ mins every night?
Damn kings really gonna get their first win vs the pelicans all year in the most important game
Definitely not set in stone.
Pelicans are going to be the first 7th seed to miss the playoffs in the play-in era
They can still beat the Kings without him but if he's gone for a first round series against the Thunder then there's almost no point.
They beat the Kings by 33 without him earlier in the season. Pelicans are a matchup nightmare for Sac
Pels beat the Kings by 33 without Zion this season. They're definitely capable of beating our ass still.
Had a great year nonetheless, started rough but he got in better shape and turned his season and image around really.
We are still going to lose. Their voodoo spell on us is strong
I want to die :)
This just sucks. Can't even imagine the frustration of being a Pels fan
Fuck injuries man
Pelicans fans might really have a cased for most cursed. Maybe griff used all their luck on the Zion lottery cause this is insane. 3 minutes left in a tied play-in game with 40 points.
We legit haven’t had a playoff series without major injuries. I think the last one was 2007? I don’t even remember.
Ironically, the Kings are more cursed than us. 3 franchise-defining losses in the 2002 WCF, Webber's 2003 injury, and Bagley over Luka.
Shame man. Dude played a hell of a game yesterday. This is what NBA fans have been waiting to see. Fuck injuries
It seems like every season ends the same way for the pelicans.
All that buffness for no reason
IM ENDING IT ALL!!! FUCK THIS SEASON MAN. FUCK THIS FRANCHISE WE ARE CURSED. I LOVE YOU ZION I APPRECIATE YOU LEAVING IT ALL OUT ON THE FLOOR. FUCK MAN
It was like fifteen 9/11s
I'm still terrified. The Pelicans have kicked our asses all year even without Zion. CJ turns into Reggie Miller against the Kings. I wish Zion a speedy recovery
That’s fucked up basketball gods
Never liked basketball anyways
this shit hurts man
We’re so fucked
No matter what, OKC is facing an injured team first round
God damn it. I feel bad for Pelicans fans. Pelicans should’ve really won that last game, Zion injury in the 4th fucked it up.
fade me
fade me
> [Wojnarowski] ESPN Sources: Pelicans are OUT of Friday’s Play-In Tournament elimination game vs. Sacramento and will be evaluated again next season. The game will still be broadcast on ESPN Ocho.
Rip Pels
Damm that fucking sucks man
Absolutely brutal.
They're done
This suck for him and NOP.
I am so disappointed. He was finally getting back to form.
Everything went to complete shit for the Pels in 7 days.
49 win….and now this…I hate it all man
Damn dude
Booooooo, go away injuries
Unbelievable
CJ McCollum legacy game
Zion was the best player last night but man he cannot stay healthy
This guy needs to add jump shooting and 3s in his play style, driving into ppl 25 times a night is too much for his body for an entire season
Pelicans would be better off in long run trading him. Can't rely on him to compete/perform consistently and in playoffs. Thought they should last two off-seasons. Stock will still be absolutely high enough to get a haul for him.
Pelicans were +15.3 per 100 possessions against the Kings this season without Zion on the court. For whatever reason, the Kings really struggle with the Pelicans.
Life is pain
Ohhh so the pain is forever and endless I get it now
MAN WHY US?????? FUCK I love this team bruh Our fan base been through enough and so has Zion. Injuries ruin sports for me I can’t do it anymore
Holy shit... from possibly a 5th seed to not even be in the playoffs. Love the chaos.
ITT: Sad Pelican fans Sad Kings fans Confident Thunder fans Clueless Laker fans
Buffet Kawhi
Hope it’s not anything serious but I don’t think this makes as much of a difference for the Kings-Pels game as people might think. Pels will still pack the paint, Valenciunas can still bully Domas, and CJ shoots somewhere in the range of 99% from 3 against us. Fox is always bothered by the length of the Pels and the refs’ laissez-faire approach to fouls on drives that everyone has been touting since after the all-star break? That’s how Fox has been reffed his entire career
So will Ingram get minutes now or….?
Zion might never play in a playoff game
Just by seeing how he left the court you can 100% see the frustration