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Annnnd, we’re back. Nets basketball is officially, unofficially back! It’s scrimmage time from the bubble in Orlando, Florida, and the short-handed Brooklyn Nets are taking on the New Orleans Pelicans.
No Kyrie Irving. No Kevin Durant. No fans. Who cares. It’s basketball, and we waited long enough for this. Try not to get excited.
WHO: Brooklyn Nets vs. New Orleans Pelicans
WHEN: 7:00 PM EST
WHERE: NBA TV, YES Network, ESPN Radio
ON THE PELICANS: The Bird Writes
Vaughn will only have 10 players available. Four of the five recent additions won’t play. Jamal Crawford, Tyler Johnson, Justin Anderson and Donta Hall will sit. Hall isn’t even with the team yet, finishing up his quarantine protocol. Anderson just joined practice Tuesday afternoon.
“We’ll have a variance of minutes. ... Those guys will not play because they’re catching up to speed,” he added. “Take a guy like Caris LeVert who will play, and try to create and sustain some timing. We’ll put a group out there that we’re just trying to get our conditioning to a decent level and a little bit of rhythm at the same time.
“I think we based it on an individual basis of where that guy is.”
In fact, Vaughn noted, that the game is more about the Nets than the Pelicans who will be without Zion Williamson who went home to deal with a family emergency. They will have Brandon Ingram, however, along with vets J.J. Redick, Jrue Holiday and Lonzo Ball.
Let’s goooooo!