SERIES OUTLOOK:

New Orleans comes to this series as one of the top NSL teams. The  3rd spot in the West with a sparkling league-best 55-27 record.

The Pelicans have literally flown mostly through the season and there’s no question that they are a force. It seems like they’ve been good from start to finish, however there were some huge bumps on the road, especially in the injury department. The fact that they´ve finished as the 3rd team in the Wild West despite their troubles, just reiterates how good and deep they are. Impressive!
They have arguably 2 top-10 of the young superstar players on their squad in Mitchell and Collins, and this makes a lot of things easier because duh, speed and talent, 2k love long time. Leeroy doesn’t really trade much, going for precise maneuvers instead, like John Collins, and has put together the NSL equivalent of Tesla (those are great), and they´re going to be around for a long time, present and future pu together.
The one constant throughout the season is team MVP Donovan Mitchell, which has the whole team’s run and gun scheme running to perfection and outscoring people!
The engine agrees with them and they are so talented for a team that was already expected to being in the running for the ring in the pre-season, they’ve come really far, precise trades but with a sparkling record and two of the league young stars at the moment on the team GM Leeroy has a lot of reasons to smile.
So we’ll see a bunch of 2k studs together in this one, which makes for an entirely different series experience. This is the first NSL playoff series EVER, so they will have to be on their toes to make it count! 

Of course, the Pelicans’s biggest star is Donovan Mitchell, and is on a tour mission about making people regret not picking him up earlier in his NBA and NSL drafts, he´s said, in an interview.  He will play a big part on motivating his guys, making sure they make that extra push to take this one. Mitchell’s leadership, alongside Morant and Collins will be very important for what they do up there.

The player to watch will be the role playing-ace, Mikal Bridges, who can do a little bit of everything and even play from the 2 to the 4 (maybe small-ball 5?) with ease and has quickly become one of the premier matchup defenders in the NBA and the NSL Pelicans, however he’ll be asked to do and perform up to par and balance that starting lineup, which he has done all season, but in this season, he will be surely tested as Denver has some bombers. While we still don’t know where Mikal will line up, I will bet he will take a couple of cracks at Steph.

They will be a saucy match-up and I’m expecting high scoring games with the Denver team which has had an up and down season but with the help of a glitch, can heat up in a hurry!


Denver has the 6th spot to show for their season, which means you’ve made it! Kudos! Now it’s time to face a juggernaut as a reward! The air tight West was tough and they finished with a 49-33 record above Memphis in the big dance.

After a great start to the season, there was already some talk that the Nuggets could be title contenders in the hard and competitive Western Conference. Then, after a couple of up-and-down weeks, mostly due to injuries, a season that was already seemed set from the get go with a big out in Klay, had an even harder blow with Myles Turner going down.

Well, as history will forget, but this would murder other teams chances of competing, but Steph Curry just decided to say, NO! He refused to waste another year of his career and went on to have the single best statistical season out of any player in the NSL, ever, no exaggeration here. The dude just exploded and almost single handedly carried his Nuggets to a pretty respectable record. I imagine this was at least a consolation prize to GM Digga, and to the surprise of everyone, the team started playing better, good enough to make a run up the standings with the Chef unleashed upon the world!

 
They have proven themselves to be a competitive team so far and are solid almost everywhere. With Curry playing the way he’s playing, they get just dangerous enough so that Leeroy has bit of a chill in his spine every once in a while, that’s probably how I would react anyway haha. 

When you take a look at their roster, they have veteran players that can contribute immediately, and this is a team built with the baller mindset and therefore, they should not be underestimated! They have nothing to lose, aren’t afraid and will try to win now while still keeping it flexible with potential for the future as well. Can you imagine what this team will look like next season? OMG

What's interesting is that they went on a roster shake-up, got better, got injured, then really injured and after the whole process, still managed to get in and be one of the most feared matchups in the league, what a ride! 

Players to watch here will be Trent Jr. and Michael Porter Jr., the young juniors which have held down the fort and had career years establishing themselves as real players in times their teams needed the most in both sides of the multiverse. They can get hot quick too!

Should be fun!

X-FACTOR MATCH-UP:

Powell X Rob Will

This will be pending on what both teams decide to do but my guess is this. It is important to note that the enforcer in the paint and defensive standout here is Rob, but Powell has also played good defense and has more then held his own. This is going to be a tough and constant fight. Powell will have his hands full. Rob greatly more athletic and the challenge here will be to prevent the Pelicans player from grabbing 20+ rebounds, as is routine.

Williams has just been great for the Pelicans and his ability as an elite defender and rebounder is something not all Centers have in their repertoire, but he does, though undersized. It seems like he brings it on every play and every game, at least 2k which is how it should be played. The winner of this matchup will most definitely set the tone for the interior defense. Powell has to be in the gym right now to prepare for this   

OUR PICK – New Orleans Pelicans:

Nuggets have the best player in the series, because of how dominant Curry is, and everybody can make a three pointer on that Nuggets team and I’m predicting 40+ attempts for the Nuggets team that is defying math this season with how good they are!
I believe the Pelicans can compensate for that with the amount of defense they play and easy points in transition and if they get hot, watch out. While resident up-and-comer Porter Jr. will try to balance that equation and reduce the damage taken. In the end, the Pelicans will try to make this game a race and play tough perimeter defense and overall depth.
Should be a great one for the ages and I´m expecting a Curry 70 point crazy game here or there. Put it up, #Nelsbet.
New Orleans in 6.