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The first practice game is upon us. In less than an hour, the New Orleans Pelicans will battle the Brooklyn Nets in a 40-minute scrimmage.
Derrick Favors will sit out tonight’s contest due to rest, but the rest of the players on the Orlando roster not named Zion Williamson are expected to be available. If you may recall, Alvin Gentry had previously alerted media to the fact that not all of the players would appear in every scrimmage.
In addition, Gentry went on to add in pregame that the coaching staff wants to take a “good, hard look” at the rookies on the squad (Jaxson Hayes, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Zylan Cheatham).
Don't expect #Pelicans veteran players to play a ton of minutes vs. Nets. Favors (rest) is out. Alvin Gentry: "We'd like to take a good, hard look at Jaxson and Nickeil and the younger players. Zylan (Cheatham) will get minutes, just to see how they're playing right now."
— Jim Eichenhofer (@Jim_Eichenhofer) July 22, 2020
This makes sense. There remain several more practice contests ahead to ramp up for the eight regular season “seeding” games, plus if there’s a chance Gentry thinks a young, fringe rotation player may be able to help in the games that count, it’s best to start that evaluation process as soon as possible.
For more on tonight’s contest, please give our preview a read!
Where To Watch/Listen
What: New Orleans Pelicans (0-0) vs Brooklyn Nets (0-0)
Where: The Arena, Disney World, Florida
When: Wednesday, July 22, 2020, 6:00 PM
Watch: Pelicans.com, NBA TV (If living outside 75-mile radius of New Orleans)
Listen: ESPN Radio 100.3 FM