It's time for New Orleans Pelicans basketball! The Pelicans have traveled all the way to Australia for their first action of the season to take on Melbourne United.
Preseason basketball isn't perfect, but it's the first chance to get a peek at this new team. Below will be a discussion thread on-going throughout the game as a well as a running log of key moments:
1st Quarter
- The first points of the season come off of a Trey Murphy pull-up, assisted by Zion Williamson. That's going to be a very fun two-man game to watch.
- Another Murphy shot assissted by Williamson already, this time a three-pointer.
- Stop me if you've heard this before, another Murphy make with an assist by Williamson. That's three times in just over four minutes of play.
- Jeremiah Fears is the first player to come in off the bench. His first minutes in a New Orleans uniform.
- Fantastic start to this game from Murphy overall, he has 11 points in the first half of the first quarter.
- Fears gets his first points in an NBA uniform by going 1-for-2 at the charity stripe.
- Micah Peavy is another rookie who has received a lot of early praise; he makes his debut early in this game.
- Williamson looking solid at the charity stripe early on. They haven't been the prettiest makes, but he's 4-for-5 so far.
- Jose Alvarado looks past whatever exactly ailed him this offseason. Two big threes off the bench. He remains a spark plug.
- Saddiq Bey tossed up a lob to Williamson and the crowd went wild. Zion has looked every part of his superstar self so far.
2nd Quarter
- Great start for Jordan Hawkins who is 1-for-1 from deep. He regressed last season and could use a bounce-back to find minutes early on.
- Peavy hitting a three at the top of the key is fantastic for him. If he can play the type of defense he says he can and hit a couple of threes off the bench, he'll have a role on this team as a rookie.
- The pace that the Pelicans are looking for stands out. Part of adding Jordan Poole at point guard was getting faster, they do right now.
- When Williamson wants to get to the paint, he can with ease.
- Murphy led all Pelicans scorers at halftime with 15. Williamson has been all over the place with 15 points, two rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block. Poole has 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.