Lonzo Ball talks advantage of Pelicans’ ability to scrimmage 5-on-5

While many teams have been particularly undermanned inside the bubble, none more notably than the Denver Nuggets, the New Orleans Pelicans have been at full strength and then some. Even with Zion Williamson exiting the bubble and being away from the team for more than a week, the Pelicans have had plenty of able bodies.

That has allowed the team to have full 5-on-5 scrimmages in practices. With an abbreviated training camp, the ability to practice 5-on-5 and recreate game-like intensity is a massive bonus. Lonzo Ball talked about the Pelicans practices inside the bubble during his media availability on Tuesday.

“We know we don’t have any time to warm up, we’ve got to win as many games as we can in these next eight, so we’ve tried to make the practices as game-like as possible, and I think that’s prepared us for the scrimmages, and it’s prepared us for the games that we need to win.”

In normal circumstances, having the ability to scrimmage 5-on-5 would be nothing special. But take two of the three teams the Pelicans scrimmage against in the Brooklyn Nets and Nuggets. Both sides have been severely undermanned during the bubble’s version of a preseason and haven’t been afforded that luxury.

The benefits could show themselves quite quickly in the bubble. With everything smashed into a smaller timeline, the quicker the Pelicans can be ready, the more important it’ll be. Each win they can nab will also be extra valuable as they fight for the playoffs.