MEMPHIS – New Orleans didn’t have Terrence Jones (thumb) or Dante Cunningham (personal) during Monday’s road win in Phoenix, but the Pelicans were able to win partly by minimizing the Suns’ damage on the backboards, being outrebounded just 43-37 overall. Repeating that feat without the services of either forward again Wednesday figures to be a bit more difficult, because the opposition is frontcourt-rich Memphis, which features the longtime duo of All-Star center Marc Gasol and power forward Zach Randolph.
Gasol has made several momentous crunch-time plays vs. New Orleans over the years, while Randolph has registered some monster games against the Pelicans, who’ve had difficulty preventing him from scoring his usual assortment of close-range hoops and putbacks.