Pelicans’ elimination match-up clouded by Williamson’s absence, dominance of Kings, home losing streak

The New Orleans Pelicans season could end Friday night.

These Pelicans had a 49-33 record during the regular-season, matching the second-best record since the franchise relocated to the Crescent City from Charlotte, N.C. as the Hornets for the 2002-03 season.

But they failed to earn one of the six Western Conference playoff spots available during the regular season when they lost their finale to the Los Angeles Lakers 124-108 on Sunday in the Smoothie King Center. They failed to claim the No. 7 seed when they lost their NBA Play-in Tournament opener 110-106 to the same team in the same building two nights later.

So now it comes down to an elimination game against the Sacramento Kings for the No. 8 spot Friday night in the Smoothie King Center. This is the fourth play-in elimination game that New Orleans has played in the last three seasons – having won at home against San Antonio and in Los Angeles against the Clippers two years ago and having lost at home to Oklahoma City last season.

And this elimination game will be played under similar circumstances to those other three, as well as the loss to Phoenix that ended the Pelicans’ 2021-22 season in Game 6 of a first-round playoff – in the absence of injured Zion Williamson.

Williamson, who played in just 85 of a possible 144 games during his first two seasons – which ended without New Orleans reaching the post-season, missed the entire season two years ago. He played just 29 of 83 games last season, but has been his healthiest this season, playing in 71 of 83 games.

In fact, most of the games he missed this season were healthy scratches designed to mitigate the wear and tear on him rather than absences caused by injury. He hasn’t missed consecutive games this season and he won’t unless the Pelicans win Friday night.

The Pelicans announced Wednesday that Williamson “will be re-examined in approximately two weeks.” If the Pelicans do advance, their best-of-seven first-round series against top-seeded Oklahoma City would end no later than May 5 (if it goes the distance). So Williamson wouldn’t play until late in that series – if at all.

But first things first.

If New Orleans loses on Friday night, Williamson will have months to rehab the injury before the team’s next game. As significant as the absence of the team’s leading scorer is, this game is still very winnable for the home team – even though the Pelicans’ current six-game losing streak inside the Smoothie King Center is a head-scratcher.

The Pelicans are 5-0 against the Kings this season, having played an extra game thanks to a meeting in the in-season tournament in December.

Williamson averaged 23 points in four of the wins and missed the January 7 match-up Sacramento. In that game New Orleans led by as many as 50 points as it roared to a 133-100 victory.

But Williamson’s absence can’t be easily dismissed either. He was playing the best basketball of his career during the last couple of months, performing at a first-team all-NBA level. He almost single-handedly brought the Pelicans back from an 18-point deficit Tuesday, having 40 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in 36 minutes before exiting with the score tied and 3:13 remaining.

Depth has been one of New Orleans’ strengths and mitigating the loss of Williamson will require a collective effort. Presumably, Trey Murphy III will start in Williamson’s place. Murphy missed the first two games against Sacramento while working his way back from off-season arthroscopic knee surgery then averaged 18 points in the last three meetings.

Third-leading scorer CJ McCollum also missed the first two meetings (lung injury) then averaged 26 points in the next three.

Brandon Ingram will be playing his third game since returning from a 12-game absence due to a hyper-extended knee and it will be important that he be a much bigger factor than he was in the two games against the Lakers. He had 13 points in 23-plus minutes Sunday and 11 points in 25 minutes Tuesday, sitting out the final 7:38.

Ingram’s absence down the stretch appeared to be a result of head coach Willie Green’s recognition that Williamson’s primary helpers in the comeback were Murphy, Jose Alvarado, Herbert Jones and Larry Nance Jr. and not Ingram (or McCollum, who scored just nine points and missed eight of nine 3-pointers).

Getting back to the Kings, center Jonas Valanciunas, who struggled against the Lakers (though he did contribute 10 rebounds in 20 minutes Tuesday after playing just seven minutes and grabbing three rebounds Sunday) has been a significant asset against Sacramento and fellow Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis. Valanciunas has had a double-double in all five meetings, averaging 14.2 points and 11.4 rebounds while Sabonis (the Kings’ leader in rebounds and assists) has averaged 18.8 points, 10.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists.

Leading scorer De’Aaron Fox has averaged 26.4 points, though like the starters on both teams has seen his minutes limited in the five games because of the outcomes being decided unusually early. In addition to the 50-point lead in the penultimate meeting, New Orleans has led by as many as 41, 23 17 and 15 points during the victories.

While the Pelicans are coming off two duds against the Lakers, Sacramento is coming off a very impressive 118-94 victory against visiting Golden State on Tuesday.

So Williamson’s absence – as well as the absence of a New Orleans home victory since March 28 – presents a significant concern for those hoping for advancement by the Pelicans.

But it’s worth remembering that the Pelicans followed a 1-5 home-stand with an improbable four-game sweep of their final road trip before the sweep by the Lakers.

It’s generally tricky for anyone to assume they have these Pelicans figured out – especially when things seem to be going really badly (or really well).

Neither the dominance against the Kings in earlier meetings – nor the disappointing performances against L.A. or the home losing streak – should be considered predictive of what will happen Friday night.