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Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans high fives CJ McCollum.

Pelicans practice report presented by HUB International: Starters to get bump in minutes vs. Pistons

Among New Orleans projected starters CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Zion Williamson and Jonas Valanciunas, none logged more than 15 minutes of action in Tuesday’s preseason win at Chicago (Brandon Ingram was a DNP due to a toe injury). Expect that group to be on the Smoothie King Center floor a bit more Friday, when the Pelicans host the Detroit Pistons.

“We’ll bump them up,” head coach Willie Green said after Thursday’s practice on minute expectations for the Detroit game. “I’m not exactly sure how many minutes, but we’ll continue to ramp up.”

Green said Williamson (15 minutes vs. Bulls) will play somewhere in the range of 20 minutes against the Pistons, perhaps slightly more.

Willie Green Gives Injury Updates, Recaps First Preseason Game | Pelicans Training Camp 2022

Other notes from Thursday’s practice:

Asked about the challenge of paring down his rotation by the start of the regular season – based partly on so many players performing well at Chicago, as well as in training camp – Green responded, “It’s a good problem to have.”

Green acknowledged that it’s possible he will include more players in his regular season rotation if the situation calls for additional Pelicans deserving minutes.

“We want to use our camp practices and games to establish where we are,” he said. “I want guys to force me to make some difficult decisions. If they earn it, they’ve earned it – I need to put them on the basketball floor. Those are the things we’ll be looking at through the rest of the games we have left.” …

Larry Nance Jr. on local excitement from fans, based on last season and the start to this one: “It shows that they’re just as hungry as we are. They want to win. They want to see a fun, exciting, winning team. We (players) want to do the exact same thing and give those fans something to scream and yell about.” Along similar lines, Willy Hernangomez said, “It feels amazing, to feel all of the support from the fans. It gives us extra energy and motivation. We can’t wait to start the season, honestly.”

Larry Nance Jr. on Team Chemistry, Dyson Daniels First Impressions | Pelicans Training Camp 2022