Looking at injuries ahead of Pelicans’ Monday matchup vs Wizards

WASHINGTON D.C. (WVUE) - The weeks ahead for the pelicans will likely be full of ups and downs regarding wins and losses.

They’ll be without Zion Williamson for the next few weeks and it remains a wait-and-see on Brandon Ingram’s injury situation.

While the Pelicans are dealing with injuries to two key starters.. their schedule is not doing them any favors.

The Pels faced the challenge of back-to-back games... the Nets Friday night at home.. and the Mavericks on the road Saturday night.

It was a slow start for the Pelicans in Dallas.. putting up only 15 points in the first quarter.

“We got into foul trouble early,” said Pels coach Willie Green. “And that really hurt us. Guys picking up two fouls in the first quarter, I think two of our guys had two fouls that I had to take out. So it kind of put us behind the 8 ball and we were playing catch up from that point on..”

Saturday’s matchup against the Mavs was the Pelicans’ 8th game of the season without both Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram..

In addition, CJ McCollum was sidelined for rest, and Larry Nance Junior also sat out due to right shoulder soreness..

Jonas Valanciunas and Naji Marshall led the way offensively for the Pels, combining for 49 points.

“Right now we have guys out. We’ve had guys out through the course of the season,” Green said. “Our guys are getting better. We’re growing, growing as a group. We’re staying connected. I still firmly believe this is going to make us better going down the stretch.”

Despite trailing by 23 at one point in the game, the Pelicans battled back to cut the lead to just 8 with a minute to go.

It wasn’t enough in the end but head coach Willie Green liked the competitiveness he saw from his team down the stretch.

“We brought a level of physicality to the game the last three quarters,” Green said. “Played together, played hard, played til the end. Once again, no moral victories in the NBA, but extremely proud of our group. We’ll continue to build. We’re going into these games trying to attack them. Unfortunately we came out on the short end of the stick tonight. But we’ll regroup and get better.”

The Pelicans play 6 of their next 7 games on the road, facing the Wizards tomorrow night before taking on the number one team in the East, the Celtics, on Wednesday.

Monday @ Washington

Some good news for tonight’s road game for the Pelicans against the wizards, CJ McCollum and Larry Nance are both likely to see some action.

After taking the last game off against the Mavericks to rest, CJ McCollum was officially taken off the injury report Monday morning.

Larry Nance Jr. has been dealing with some right shoulder soreness but is listed as ‘probable’.

Both guys are veterans in the NBA so maintenance is key for these guys.

McCollum has been hitting his stride recently in the absence of Zion and Brandon Ingram, firing from three and getting other guys involved.

Of course, Nance is a monster on the defensive end and supplies a lot of energy off the bench.

This game tonight in D.C. is the third of five consecutive road games so hopefully getting these guys back in the rotation will result in a Pels win.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.

Copyright 2023 WVUE. All rights reserved.