The New Orleans Pelicans and the Atlanta Hawks have both been missing multiple key players due to injuries.
The teams will have makeshift lineups when they meet Sunday in New Orleans. The Pelicans are feeling better after ending a three-game losing streak with a home victory against Indiana on Friday, and even though the Hawks lost at home against Sacramento the same night in their fourth straight setback, they were encouraged by how they finished.
New Orleans overcame a slow start against the Pacers and rode Zion Williamson, who had 34 points and 10 assists, and Brandon Ingram, who scored 26, to the 125-118 victory.
“(It’s) just such a blessing to have a group that’s as resilient as our group is,” Pelicans fourth-year head coach Willie Green said. “They’ve been like that since I’ve gotten here. (Williamson and Ingram), their leadership on the floor, being detailed, executing plays over and over again, communicating defensively — the rest of the group followed.
“Everybody that touched the floor was huge for us.”
Green will continue use a patchwork lineup because Dejounte Murray (hand), CJ McCollum (adductor), Herbert Jones (shoulder/rotator cuff) and Trey Murphy III (hamstring) won’t return for multiple weeks.
Williamson bounced back from a poor shooting performance (5 of 20) in a loss at Golden State on Wednesday to make 14 of 20 against Indiana.
“(The key was) letting the game come to me by staying aggressive,” Williamson said. “It was like I was painting my own picture, getting the lay of the land and once I got it, then I was on the attack.”
Jordan Hawkins (23 points), who played through back soreness that kept him out for part of the third quarter, and Jose Alvarado (12) responded after being thrust into the starting lineup. Brandon Boston Jr., with 14 points in 23 minutes, was significant off the bench.
The Hawks also leaned on a series of players forced into bigger roles than normal against Sacramento as they played without starters De’Andre Hunter (knee) and former Pelican Dyson Daniels (hip) as well as rotation players Bogdan Bogdanovic (hamstring), Vit Krejci (thigh) and Kobe Bufkin (shoulder).
“I thought we played with courage,” Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said after his team trailed the Kings by as many as 18 points and twice got within two points midway through the fourth period. “We just competed. It was our best fourth quarter defensively of the year. That’s something we talked about. We didn’t have that competitive endurance.”
Just as the Pelicans’ healthy stars in Williamson and Ingram led the way, so did Hawks star Trae Young, who topped the team with 25 points and 12 assists.
“Everybody should get their pens out and start writing about Trae Young,” Snyder said. “He got blitzed. He trusted his teammates. He wasn’t selfish. He got off the ball early to shooters. He managed the game.”
Snyder praised Young for “the mental toughness that he has to play with right now, when everything’s going through him.”
“(I’m) not diminishing other guys’ efforts,” the coach continued, “but that was a hell of a performance (by Young), and we shouldn’t lose track of that because we lost the game.”
Garrison Mathews made a career-high seven 3-pointers and scored 23 points off the bench for Atlanta.
