They can't coach 'em healthy

They were so delightful, the Pelicans, last week New Orleans was a half-game away from home-court advantage in the West, panting down the folding necks of the faltering, fourth-seeded Clippers. Yer Pels took that week and lost four of five and the one win was over Doc Rivers’ not-my-bad Bucks, no win at all.

Counting the game in which he suffered his bone bruise and crumbled, the Pelicans are 3-5 in spring without Brandon Ingram. Pels were awfully put off by the work of the referees in Wednesday’s 117-108 loss at home to Orlando, NOLA head coach Willie Green was rather put off by the effort of the Pels he planted in the lineup.

The Pelicans are a No. 7 seed, 2.5 games behind L.A., a half-game behind Dallas, tied with Phoenix. Willie’s 45-31 team is outta the playoff bracket and into the Play-In, owning the tiebreaker over the 45-31 Phoenix Suns (whom New Orleans visits on Sunday) but not the 44-31 Sacramento Kings (an opponent they’ll fly to meet on Thursday; the Pelicans are in Golden State the next evening). The Pels visit Portland, but the home games (Spurs, Lakers) are hardly gimmies.

Slow down. Wasn’t this the buffer NOLA built?

On March 19 this club was 16 games over .500 with 14 to play, creating room for the inevitable (an injury to the oft-sidelined Ingram, Zion Williamson, or C.J. McCollum) to crease the image, taking the knocks, playing dem odds. Now it has a chance to let Williamson meet the ball, something he could avoid with Ingram around, Zion stepping to his mark rather than blending into back scenery.