The New Orleans Pelicans will reportedly be the team that Paul George faces in his Los Angeles Clippers debut.
The New Orleans Pelicans may have the dubious honor of being the NBA’s first team to face the star-studded Los Angeles Clippers at full strength.
While it won’t be the sort of news that will help the struggling Pelicans snap out of the funk that has them among the league’s least winningest-teams, news that six-time All-Star Paul George may make his season debut against New Orleans tomorrow night ought to make the matchup more interesting.
Chris Haynes of Yahoo reported that George may make his season debut Wednesday night, when the two teams will meet for the first time this season. George has been on the mend for some time now, recovering from dual shoulder surgeries conducted in the offseason to correct nagging issues that plagued the California native in the 2019 postseason.
Of course, with New Orleans dealing with a number of injuries of their own, it’s certainly possible that the team’s other superstar forward, Kawhi Leonard, takes the night off himself rather than risk injury facing a team unlikely to put up much of a fight given their own state.
With Lonzo Ball working his way back from a groin injury, Brandon Ingram recovering from a strained knee and Jaxson Hayes day-to-day with a bruised rib cage he sustained against the Houston Rockets (and, of course, rookie phenom Zion Williamson sidelined until December), much of the early-season buzz around the Pels has subsided, as have expectations for a playoff berth.
If recent history is any clue, Leonard resting is not an improbable outcome, as the Clippers are set to face the Rockets on Tuesday. While also riddled with injuries to their wing rotation, simply having James Harden and Russell Westbrook available makes that matchup a bigger risk to the Clippers.
With Leonard already sitting out back-to-backs this season as part of his load management approach, it’s possible the front office chooses to rest their championship player, giving New Orleans a chance to capitalize on the potential issues which could arise from trying to integrate George into an already-established Clippers rotation.
Though, given the sole instance of Leonard resting came against the arguably stronger franchise (Leonard played against his former San Antonio Spurs the following evening after resting against the Utah Jazz on Oct. 30), it’s also very possible the team will face one of the biggest challenges of the season tomorrow night.
Only time will tell.
