Into the Fire: It’s Not Over For the Pelicans

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The Pelicans return home down 2-0 to the reigning, defending, undisputed NBA champions this weekend. So far this second round series has gone the Warriors way. Balls have bounced Golden State’s way, calls have gone Golden State’s way, and the overall atmosphere has been in Golden State’s favor; but as they say, “ it ain’t a series until the home team loses.”

The Pelicans are still very much alive coming into Game 3 tonight at that Smoothie King Center. The fact that they lost by five points without having Anthony Davis or Jrue Holiday get to the charity stripe is a pretty good indicator that the Pelicans can hang with the Warriors for 48 minutes. The offense clicked in game 2, responding in every way instance in which they were threatened by Warrior momentum. The defensive game plan is sustainable and the Pelicans truly looked like they were able to handle the impossible task of keeping Kevin Durant’s offensive production at bay. All in all, the Pelicans are still in extreme underdog territory, their hopes of winning the series are slim to none, but coming home for the weekend is going to be special nonetheless.

When this seasons ends, the Pelicans are going to be one of the few “what if” teams of 2018. The “what if” question will of course be about the Boogie Cousins that completely changed the fabric of this basketball team mid-season. Asking “what if Boogie was there” is going to happen whether the Pels get bounced out of these playoffs or go on a miraculous run starting this weekend; Boogie Cousins is such a polarizing figure that we have to ask that question. The “what if” question is fun to ask, but the best part about this Pelicans team is the fact that they even got to this point. A lot of people will ask “what if,” but everyone is saying “that was impressive.”

The coming weekend is easily the most daunting task the Pelicans have faced all season long. They need to escape with one win to extend the series against the world champs. Even at home, that is almost not really expected since the Pelicans have only beaten Golden State once in the last 669 tries they’ve had. So needless to say, winning two in a row and evening the series on it’s way back to Oakland would be the stuff of legend. Win or lose, the Pelicans have overachieved this year and even though the season will be over, it is going to be far from over for these New Orleans Pelicans because they built something special this season.

It is hard to imagine you could call a season in which Boogie Cousins was lost to injury the most successful season in Pelicans history, but that is how it truly played out. Before the season began Alvin Gentry and Dell Demps were on their way out of town, Anthony Davis was going to experiment playing with another big as he waited out his contract to go to a real contender, and Rajon Rondo was just happy to be here. Now Alvin Gentry and Dell Demps have earned themselves another year, Anthony Davis is having as much fun as he has ever had in New Orleans, and Rondo is the heart and soul of a team with a real future; not to mention Jrue Holiday earning every penny he was given by the team prior to the start of this year. The Pelicans may get knocked out this weekend in front of their home fans, but this team is far from done because this season the Pelicans arrived and they are just getting started.

– Alan Michael