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With Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Steven Adams and Lonzo Ball all out due to injury for Wednesday’s matchup against the Dallas Mavericks, Eric Bledsoe should be surrounded by Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naji Marshall, James Johnson and Willy Hernangomez in the starting lineup.
Stan Van Gundy confirmed NAW’s inclusion in the starting lineup during pregame media, saying that while he won’t be on a minutes restriction, they’ll still keep an eye on him.
While it’s never good to read that four-fifths of the usual lineup is unavailable, the New Orleans Pelicans should be looking exclusively to the future because the play-in tournament feels out of reach.
In order for the team to climb into the 10th spot, the Pelicans would have to go a perfect 3-0 the rest of the way while the San Antonio Spurs lose all four of their remaining matchups.
One interesting thing to ponder: Could this be the night that Didi Louzada makes his debut in an NBA regular season game? In addition to Kira Lewis Jr., Wenyen Gabriel, Wesley Iwundu and Jaxson Hayes all likely to receive plenty of run off the bench, it seems probable that we see the team’s NBL draft-and-stash the last two years for at least a few minutes.
SVG on Didi Louzada: "I would expect over these last three games he’ll get some minutes on the floor and we’ll be able to get a look at him but I don’t know if that’ll be a fair representation of what he can do for a guy to have one practice and not even a full fledged practice."
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) May 12, 2021
For more on today’s matchup, please give David’s preview a read.
Geaux Pels!
Who: New Orleans Pelicans (31-38) at Dallas Mavericks (40-29)
When: May 12, 8:00 p.m. Central
Where to watch: Bally Sports New Orleans
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.