“Zion Williamson’s Been a Whole Another Monster”: 2008 Champion Picks Pelicans to Beat Celtics in New Orleans

Tony Allen was recently a guest on the show, Ticket and The Truth, hosted by Allen’s former Boston teammates, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. During a segment of the show, Allen was asked for his predictions for the upcoming match-up between the New Orleans Pelicans and The Boston Celtics. Both teams have been looking dominant, but Allen chose to side with the New Orleans side.

For Allen, Zion was the deciding factor in choosing the Pelicans. Talking about his pick, Allen revealed,

” I am not gonna lie, Zion Williamson has been a whole other monster…He has been dominant…I got the Pelicans…Shout out to the Celtics man but y’all gonna lose to the Pelicans man.”

Even though Allen’s pick wasn’t backed by any solid reasoning, picking the Pelicans over the Celtics is surely a slippery slope for Allen. Comparing sides, the Pelicans are 5th in the West with a record of 45-28, while the Celtics have the best record in the league, winning 57 of the 73 games, as per NBA.com.

Personnel-wise, the Pelicans are also short-staffed in comparison with the Celtics, as Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram will be missing from the action due to a bone contusion in his knee, per Sports Illustrated. But unlike The Pelicans, Boston seems to be well-staffed, as no major star on the roster has dealt with serious injury issues this season.

But regardless of roster dynamics and player availability, the Boston Celtics can still lose the match-up against Zion and The Pelicans. Coming off a two-game mini-series against the Hawks, the Celtics were recently exposed as the Boston-based team would lose both games to a relatively weaker Hawks team. The key to the Pelican’s victory will come through their superstar forward Zion Williamson, as Boston should have a hard time containing the newly invigorated forward.

The Pelicans are looking scary even without Ingram

Brandon Ingram has been sidelined for over a week now, as the star forward incurred his current injury (bone contusion per CBS Sports) during the Pelican’s recent match-up[ last Friday] against the Magic. With Ingram not returning to the team anytime soon, Zion Williamson will have to shoulder a lot of the load on offense. With the Pelicans having less than nine games left this season, Williamson should be able to hold onto a playoff berth come playoff time. But even without Ingram, the Pelicans seem to be doing just fine as they maintain a record of 7-3 in games without their star wing.

But regarding the numbers, former NBA Champion, Rajon Rondo doesn’t like the Pelican’s chances of making the NBA final. Rondo even made a bet with his friend and former NBA All-Star DeMarcus Cousins while appearing on the show ‘Bully Ball’.

The duo would both bet $50/game on the Pelicans remaining match-ups, as the former pros seemed confident in their selection. With Zion averaging 26.5 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 0.7 blocks over the last ten games per ESPN, the chances of The Pelicans winning their upcoming match-up seem ‘high’.