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With the playoffs no longer a possibility, the New Orleans Pelicans are going to field a rather unusual starting lineup against the Sacramento Kings tonight.
Starters for tonight’s matchup:
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) August 12, 2020
Pelicans Starters:
Lonzo Ball
E’Twaun Moore
Josh Hart
Nicolò Melli
Jaxson Hayes
Kings Starters:
Cory Joseph
Bogdon Bogdanovic
Harrison Barnes
Nemanja Bjelica
Alex Len
With Jrue Holiday, Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson ruled out yesterday, Alvin Gentry was going to have to trot out something highly irregular, but it’s interesting to see Jaxson Hayes receive the nod ahead of Derrick Favors, who is reportedly available.
Either way, it’s good to see because these final two games inside the bubble presents a golden opportunity for big minutes among the young reserves.
“I think you want to have them have valuable minutes in real games in situational basketball offensively and defensively,” Gentry said in pregame. “I think it’s going to be really important that we approach it with the right spirit, and we talked about that today at shootaround, how we have to get after this game as if [it was] any other regular season game. We’ve got to play to win, and we’ve got to execute and be good defensively in all those areas.”
For more on tonight’s game, please give a our preview a read. Also, be sure to read the latest on Brandon Ingram and why he remains on track to re-sign with New Orleans in the upcoming free agency period.
Geaux Pels!
Who: Sacramento Kings vs New Orleans Pelicans
When: August 11, 8:00 p.m. Central
Where to watch: TNT, FSNO
Where to listen: ESPN 100.3 FM
For more Pelicans talk, subscribe to The Bird Calls podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow this author on Twitter at @OlehKosel.