The New Orleans Pelicans suffered a 110-106 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Play-In Tournament on Tuesday, and head coach Willie Green was not happy with the officiating. The Lakers shot almost twice as many free throws as the Pelicans and Green believes his team just has not been getting calls all season.
“I don’t feel like we have gotten a great whistle all season,” Green said. “That’s how I feel when I watch the games. We’re one of the teams that dominate the paint night in and night out, we have a physical dominant force in Zion (Williamson) along with others and it just seems like we’re not getting those calls.”
“We're one of the teams that dominates the paint night in and night out, we have a physical force in Zion… It just seems like we're not getting those calls.”
– Willie Green on the Lakers taking 14 more free throws than NOLA
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 17, 2024
It is important to note here that Green is not complaining about the Lakers getting 29 free throws in the game. The issue for him is that his team only shot 15 despite dominating inside. The Pelicans had a 62-36 advantage when it came to points in the paint, but didn’t get too many trips to the line.
Zion Williamson, who had 40 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block on the night for the Pelicans, was the only one to get some calls. Williamson was 6-9 from the line, and you could argue he should have shot a few more with how much contact he was drawing all night.
At the end of the day, though, what cost the Pelicans here for me was not that they didn’t get some calls. It was the fact that both Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum had stinkers.
Ingram had just 11 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists against the Lakers and shot just 4-12 from the field. You could at least chalk that down to him having just returned from injury, but McCollum didn’t have that excuse. The veteran recorded only 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 6 assists and shot 4-15 from the field.
With the two stars struggling, you knew it was all over for the Pelicans when Williamson had to leave the game due to an injury with just over three minutes remaining. They managed to keep it close in his absence but couldn’t get over the line.
The Pelicans Are Staring Down Another Play-In Tournament Elimination
Thanks to the Pelicans finishing seventh in the standings, they do get another crack at advancing to the playoffs when they face off against the Sacramento Kings. It is a do-or-die clash, as the winner will get the eighth seed while the loser will see their season come to an end.
The Pelicans had been eliminated in the tournament last year by the Oklahoma City Thunder and I fear they are going to exit at this stage once more. The Pelicans actually won all five meetings with the Kings this season, but they will most probably be without Williamson for this sixth clash.
Zion is believed to have suffered a left hamstring injury, and I doubt he’ll be able to play on Friday. He will undergo tests on Wednesday, and even if he gets cleared, I don’t see how he would be at his best against the Kings, which isn’t ideal.
It is a real shame that Williamson got injured while he was delivering arguably the finest performance of his NBA career. Even his staunchest critics would have been in awe of that display and it is a pity he didn’t get a chance to finish the job.
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