It was barely a week into the season, yet New Orleans spent a 48-hour period seemingly needing to channel a certain Green Bay Packers quarterback and his famous quote about getting people to “R-E-L-A-X.” The Pelicans were .500 through four games, but a one-sided loss Tuesday at Phoenix brought out existential questions on everything from the team’s shooting, to its lineups, to its bench.
For a couple days at least, New Orleans perhaps quelled some of those concerns by pummeling a rebuilding Oklahoma City team, 113-80, on New Year’s Eve. The Pelicans rolled to a victory despite losing Brandon Ingram to a second-half ejection (flagrant-2 foul) and only having Zion Williamson on the floor for a total of 17 minutes due to foul trouble.