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The New Orleans Pelicans and Charlotte Hornets will be squaring off today in a battle between two of the worst teams in the NBA. While both teams won't be making the postseason, they can use these final few weeks to build toward the future.
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New Orleans has a lot of talent on its roster, but injuries completely derailed its season. However, the Pelicans are looking toward the offseason and want to finish the year on a high note.
Entering this game, they have some injuries that they are dealing with. The biggest name on the injury report for this game is star forward Zion Williamson.
Williamson has dealt with multiple issues this season and now has a lower back problem. Due to this injury, the star forward has been ruled out of this contest today.
The Pelicans aren't going to push Williamson, especially when they aren't in the playoff hunt. But not having him on the court does hurt their chances of grabbing this win.
For the year, Williamson has been very effective, even with him missing a significant amount of time. Williamson has averaged 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game.
Injuries have limited him to just 30 games this season, but there is hope for the future. Williamson is the franchise player for New Orleans, and they are hopeful that he can turn his career around moving forward.
As for the Hornets, they also enter this game with some injuries. The most notable one being star guard LaMelo Ball.
Ball will miss this game against New Orleans after he was ruled out for the remainder of the season. The guard has been dealing with some issues, and Charlotte finally called it for his season.
Read more: Hornets Star LaMelo Ball To Miss Rest of the Season
The star was in the midst of a special year, putting up career-highs all over the place. For the season, Ball averaged 25.2 points, 4.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 1.1 steals per game.
The Hornets are confident in their direction moving forward, and Ball seems to be at the center of it all. But for now, they will look to finish the year strong, starting with this game against the Pelicans.
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About the writer
Matt Levine works as a contributing writer for Newsweek based in California. His expertise is in covering the NBA but ... Read more