By now, this should be familiar territory for Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson and Lonzo Ball. For a second straight season, the New Orleans Pelicans’ starting lineup is clicking at a rate that makes it one of the most effective in the NBA. That trio, along with guard and center spots that have changed hands to Eric Bledsoe and Steven Adams in 2020-21, has been dominant lately, pushing the Pelicans to a 5-2 stretch, including three straight wins over quality opponents Phoenix, Indiana and Memphis.
“We think we can play with anybody,” Ball said after Saturday’s 118-109 win vs. the Grizzlies, when the point guard was asked about recent excellence from the starting group.
Indeed, Ball’s opinion has objectively been the case in recent weeks. According to NBA.com, since Jan. 27, the New Orleans first unit of Ball, Bledsoe, Ingram, Williamson and Adams has been the league’s best five-man lineup (minimum 50 minutes played), posting a gaudy net rating of plus-37.4 points per 100 possessions (in 96 minutes). The starters’ stinginess on defense has been impressive, with a stellar efficiency of 100.0, but the offense is performing at a sky-high level, scoring 137.4 points per 100 possessions. The result is a gaudy net rating of 37.4 in that timeframe.
Here are the NBA’s top three five-man lineups since Jan. 27 (minimum 50 minutes):
NEW ORLEANS + 37.4
Lonzo Ball, Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, Steven Adams (96 minutes)
SACRAMENTO + 26.9
De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, Richaun Holmes (76 minutes)
PHOENIX +20.0
Chris Paul, Cameron Johnson, Mikal Bridges, Jae Crowder, Deandre Ayton (54 minutes)
Although the Pelicans’ starters recent surge has made more people take notice, first-year head coach Stan Van Gundy pointed out Saturday that the quintet was performing well prior to a mid-January temporary dissolution of the lineup, due to injuries and other circumstances. From the Dec. 23 opener against Toronto through Jan. 12, the Pelicans did have the NBA’s sixth-best five-man lineup (minimum 100 minutes), with a net rating of plus-8.5.
“We’re playing well, but if you go back, early in the year, that was one of the best five-man lineups in the league,” Van Gundy said. “But then we went on the (five-game Western Conference) road trip, and we sort of broke that lineup. Bled had the eye injury, Zion missed one game on a false positive (COVID-19 test), Zo was out for a couple games. So we sort of lost the continuity there, and it’s taken time to get it back. That’s what I think has happened. Before we had people in and out, that lineup was really good too.”
“The coaches are doing a really good job with putting us in certain (offensive situations) and we’re getting those plays consistently and running them fluidly,” Adams said. “Defensively, we’re starting to figure out each other’s tendencies, the right reads, what the body language is showing, whether we need to help out or not, which is a big part of it.”
Prior to last season’s mid-March shutdown and extended hiatus, New Orleans also boasted one of the NBA’s premier starting fives, with Jrue Holiday and Derrick Favors lining up next to Ball, Williamson and Ingram. That unit also took time to gel, an aspect Ball believes has again been a factor in 2020-21, in terms of how it affects chemistry and cohesiveness. It doesn’t help that training camp was abbreviated and the game schedule means limited practice time during the regular season.
“This is our first year playing together,” Ball said of the starters. “It’s going to take some time, still.”
There are plenty of high-caliber NBA five-man lineups with significantly more court time together – such as Utah’s second-year grouping of Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Royce O’Neal, Bojan Bogdanovic and Rudy Gobert – but New Orleans is showing plenty of encouraging signs during its turnaround, following up a 1-8 stretch with the 5-2 mark over the past 12 days. The Pelicans have more work to do to ascend to the very top of the list, but the recent surge pushed NOLA’s starters to fifth in net rating among all lineups this season.
Here are the NBA’s top five five-man lineups in 2020-21 (minimum 200 minutes):
UTAH +17.4
Mike Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Royce O’Neal, Bojan Bogdanovic, Rudy Gobert (282 minutes)
LA LAKERS +17.1
Dennis Schroder, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Marc Gasol (263 minutes)
PHILADELPHIA +16.4
Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Danny Green, Tobias Harris, Joel Embiid (257 minutes)
DENVER +11.2
Jamal Murray, Gary Harris, Will Barton, Paul Millsap, Nikola Jokic (250 minutes)
NEW ORLEANS +9.6
Lonzo Ball, Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, Steven Adams (275 minutes)
Among those five groups, both Utah and Denver returned all five players from last season. New Orleans is still in the early stages of achieving maximum familiarity as it incorporates Bledsoe and Adams, but the Pelicans have recently begun picking up victories against some of the NBA’s best teams.
“We’re still working on a few things,” Ball said of the starters, “but we’re definitely moving in the right direction.”
