The marquee matchup in tonight’s Magic-Pelicans game (8 ET, NBA App) features:
- Two No. 1 draft picks (Zion in 2019, Paolo in 2022)…
- Who both played one season at Duke under Coach K…
- Who both play the power forward position…
- Who are preparing for first taste of the NBA postseason
Setting The Stage: Paolo’s Magic enter tonight fourth in the East, looking to secure a guaranteed playoff berth with a top six finish. Zion’s Pelicans are sixth in the West, trying to avoid a third straight trip to the Play-In.
Ready For The Moment: Joining a team as the No. 1 overall pick immediately brings high expectations from all parties involved – the organization, teammates, fans and even the No. 1 pick themselves.
- Paolo at his introductory press conference: “There’s gonna be high expectations for myself, that I’m going to hold myself to, and that everyone is going to hold [me] to … I’ve kind of had that my whole life.
- I’m going to approach it the way I’ve always approached it, have fun with it and really just buy into the team and we’ll go from there.”
That concept of buying into the team is clear to see in Orlando as the Magic have a balanced attack that sees players up and down the roster contribute to their success.
- Paolo leads the team in scoring (22.9 ppg) but they have five more guys averaging 10+
- Paolo leads the team in assists (5.3 apg), but they have four more guys averaging 3+
Coach Jamahl Mosley: “He’s not afraid of those big moments and his teammates trust him to be able to make those big plays. It says a lot about our group … Just the trust that these guys have in each other. It goes such a long way.”
While Zion has been a pro for three more years than Paolo, he only has 33 more games of experience due to injuries that kept him sidelined during NOLA’s last two runs to the Play-In.
Healthy for this season’s stretch run, Zion and the Pelicans have gained valuable playoff-like experience over the past few weeks to prepare themselves for what’s next.
- Pelicans coach Willie Green: “It’s important for Z, it’s important for all of us. These games – high-level, high-intensity games – they prepare you for what’s to come or the games that we want to be involved in and so you learn from them, you learn what works.
- What can you execute offensively? What are teams trying to do to us? How to get stops, how to rebound, gotta make a free throw. Just the small details, you get these high-level games and they’re fun to be a part of.”
*** This article was pulled from our Starting 5 Newsletter, a daily look at all things NBA. To get the newsletter in your inbox every morning, subscribe here.
