Cavaliers vs. Pelicans: One New Face, Same Playoff Race

New Orleans, La.- The New Orleans Pelicans were relatively quiet through the NBA's trade deadline, swapping Devonte' Graham and four second-round picks for Josh Richardson (San Antonio Spurs). The Cleveland Cavaliers made their splash this summer in a trade for Donovan Mitchell.

Both teams are right in the middle of the postseason positioning battles and have a few reasons to believe they can win a series or two in the playoffs. Sadly, fans still will not get to see all of them in action as Zion Williamson has been ruled out through the NBA All-Star break.

New Orleans released its injury report on Thursday after the Richardson/Graham trade. Since the deal is still technically pending, Graham is listed as out. So are Dyson Daniels (right ankle sprain), E.J. Liddell (right knee ACL injury recovery), Dereon Seabron (G League two-way), and Williamson (right hamstring strain).

When: Friday, February 10, 2023 @ 9 PM CST
Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans
Watch: Bally Sports NO
Listen: 99.5 WRNO

Ricky Rubio (left knee ACL recovery) and Dylan Windler (right ankle sprain) are all listed as out for Cleveland. Still, the Cavaliers will be a handful for the short-handed Pelicans. Evan Mobley and Co. beat New Orleans 113-103 just a few weeks ago, a loss that started a ten-game losing streak for the Pelicans.

Cleveland will get Darius Garland back into the starting lineup. Garland missed Wednesday's game against Detroit due to a sore right thumb but has averaged 23.2 points, 8.5 assists, and 3.1 rebounds in 34.4 minutes per game over the last month.

CJ McCollum will have to win this battle individually. Brandon Ingram and Donovan Mitchell will stage their own shootout on the other wing. It will be up to Herb Jones to help slow down Mitchell as much as possible. Even though Jones has been struggling offensively, keeping Mitchell under 30 is almost the same as scoring.

Trey Murphy III and Ingram should be able to see and play over the undersized Isaac Okoro and Caris LeVert. Okoro plays like an old-school power forward lacking an outside shot. LeVert is more of a combo guard playing up a position in certain lineups.

Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are the real problems waiting in the paint. They are one of the best defensive pairings in the league and provide excellent help defense to support the trio of spark plug guards. LeVert or Okoro in the starting lineup will give away how Cleveland plans to attack the Pelicans.

Parades start rolling through the Uptown and the Garden Districts between 6-7 PM. They end just a few blocks from the Smoothie King Center, just in time for a 9 PM tipoff. Can Willie Green's squad pull out a win on bobblehead night? Stay tuned to Pelicans Scoop for all the latest updates.

Expected Starting Lineups:

Cleveland: Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Caris LeVert, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen

New Orleans: CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy lll, Brandon Ingram, Jonas Valančiūnas

Expected Starting Lineups:

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