Will Jordan Poole & Zion Williamson Play on Friday vs. Mavs? Latest Injury Update on Pelicans Stars

The New Orleans Pelicans provide the latest on Jordan Poole and Zion Williamson's statuses for their game against the Dallas Mavericks.

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The New Orleans Pelicans are looking to end their seven-game losing streak on Friday against the Dallas Mavericks. In the battle of two of the most disappointing teams in the Western Conference, both sides will look at the NBA Cup clash as an opportunity to bounce back. Both sides have lost their first two games of the NBA Cup, so they have no chance to get out of West Group B, but there is still plenty at stake for the Pelicans, who are desperately trying to give their fans some hope for the rest of the season.

The first spark of hope came on Wednesday when Zion Williamson returned from his hamstring injury. That wasn't enough to defeat Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets, but Friday's clash against the 4-12 Mavs will be as good a chance as any for the Pelicans to get on the W column.

Will Zion Williamson and Jordan Poole Play on Friday?

The Pelicans announced their injury report for the game in Dallas. Williamson has seemingly suffered no setback and will start for the second straight game. He was limited to 29 minutes against Denver, but he should presumably see a bigger workload in his second game back. Williamson has only appeared in six out of 15 games for the Pelicans, averaging 21.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game on a career-low 54.3% True Shooting. If the Pels are going to turn their season around, they will need their star power forward to start producing and playing with more efficiency.

Poole, on the other hand, will miss his ninth straight game of the season with a left quad strain. Backup center Karlo Matkovic, along with Dejounte Murray, who has been out since the start of the season, will also miss the game.

The last game Poole played was on November 4 against the Charlotte Hornets. His tenure with the Pelicans has not only been disappointing but also representative of the Pelicans as a franchise. Poole has been an iron man throughout his career, only missing a total of 24 games in his previous four seasons. Only a few weeks into his first season in New Orleans, however, Poole is in the midst of one of his most extended absences of his career.

Without Poole, the Pelicans will rely heavily on rookie Jeremiah Fears for shot creation and playmaking once again. Jose Alvarado and Jordan Hawkins also see an uptick in their playing time in Poole's absence. But most of the offensive workload will fall on the Trey Murphy-Zion Williamson-Derik Queen trio.

The Mavericks will have star rookie Cooper Flagg back against the Pelicans after he missed their last game with a thumb injury. Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving remain sidelined.