MILWAUKEE – All three members of the New Orleans starting frontcourt that began the regular season Oct. 17 in Houston – Anthony Davis, Nikola Mirotic and E’Twaun Moore – have experienced some bumps and bruises recently, sitting out a combined 13 games with assorted injuries. The team’s top frontcourt reserve for much of 2018-19 had gone unscathed through 31 games, but that will change Wednesday when the Pelicans visit Milwaukee’s new Fiserv Forum.
After appearing in every previous game, Julius Randle (ankle) has already been ruled out of the matchup against the Bucks. Fourth-year head coach Alvin Gentry said Randle did not participate in Tuesday’s practice and will be a DNP in Wisconsin, as will Nikola Mirotic (ankle).
“We’ll see where it is after (Wednesday) and what’s going on,” Gentry noted of Randle’s status going forward; New Orleans visits the forward/center’s former NBA team, the Los Angeles Lakers, on Friday.
Mirotic was shooting jumpers nearby as Gentry spoke to the media in the Ochsner Sports Performance Center, but he’s not ready to play in a game. The Pelicans’ most prolific three-point shooter (team highs of 63 makes in 181 attempts) was shut down after only logging seven minutes Dec. 10 at Boston, in order for him to improve physically after he’d been playing through ankle issues.
“He’s getting better,” Gentry said. “But he won’t play (Wednesday), either.”
When either Mirotic or Davis have been sidelined this season, Gentry has often leaned on reserve big Cheick Diallo to play more minutes. Gentry noted Tuesday that it’s possible Jahlil Okafor could also begin to see additional action; Okafor has appeared in just 13 games for a total of 70 minutes this season, though he’s started twice.
“I think you’ll see him soon,” Gentry said of a potential role increase. “Obviously we’re in a situation now where we’re depleted from a big-guy standpoint. He’s worked extremely hard – as hard as anybody, every single day he comes in. I think he’ll be ready to play whenever we stick him out there, because he puts in the work.”
New Orleans (15-16) must be similarly ready to compete this week, when the Pelicans face three teams that should be very encouraged by how they’ve started ’18-19. Milwaukee (20-9), the Lakers (18-12) and Sacramento (16-14) are all above .500, including going a combined 31-13 at home (the Bucks and Lakers are 13-3 and 11-4, respectively).
Gentry acknowledged that New Orleans will enter this three-game trip under less than ideal circumstances due to key players being sidelined, but many other NBA teams also are facing rotation shakeups due to injuries.
“We played Boston without three of their starters, and maybe four of their top six guys,” Gentry said, referring to a Celtics home win over the Pelicans without Kyrie Irving, Al Horford or Gordon Hayward. “It’s a tough trip. It was going to be a tough trip anyway. It’s got to be next man up, our bench is going to have to help, and we’re going to have to play good basketball.”