Murphy supplied 11 points (5-10 FG, 1-4 3Pt), five rebounds, three assists and two steals across 21 minutes in Friday's 107-106 preseason win over the Wizards.
Williamson posted 11 points (5-14 FG, 0-4 3Pt, 1-2 FT), five rebounds and one assist over 22 minutes during Friday's 107-106 preseason win over the Wizards.
Fears tallied 14 points (5-11 FG, 1-3 3Pt, 3-4 FT), three rebounds, five assists and three steals in 22 minutes in Friday's 107-106 preseason win over the Wizards.
Bey logged 19 points (7-11 FG, 3-5 3Pt, 2-2 FT), six rebounds, two assists and two steals over 17 minutes during Friday's 107-106 preseason win over the Wizards.
Matkovic is not listed in the starting lineup for Friday's preseason game against the Wizards.
Mathurin is not listed in the starting lineup for Friday's preseason game against the Wizards.
Bey is not listed in the starting lineup for Friday's preseason game against Washington.
Murray (toe) won't play in Friday's preseason finale against the Wizards, Jim Eichenhofer of the Pelicans' official site reports.
Shamet posted 13 points (3-8 FG, 1-5 3Pt, 6-7 FT), three assists, two rebounds and two steals across 24 minutes in Thursday's 122-120 preseason victory over Toronto.
Brunson totaled 20 points (7-15 FG, 1-1 3Pt, 5-6 FT), seven assists and three rebounds across 29 minutes in Thursday's 122-120 preseason victory over Toronto.
FanDuel. Averaging 18.7 points per game this season (in 27.6 minutes), Dejounte Murray has returned from his Achilles injury to bring some life to the listless Pelicans. With his rotation now at a consistent 30 minutes, I like this spot for him tonight. The Knicks have struggled all season against three-level scoring, pick and roll ball-handlers, ranking 25th against the playtype. After a tough game against a stingier pick and roll defense of the Cavaliers, I expect Murray to bounce back tonight.
When Dejounte Murray first returned from injury, he was on a minute restriction. However, he has played at least 30 minutes in five of his last six games. Over those six games, he averaged 20.8 points, 14.2 shot attempts and 4.0 free throw attempts. He shoots 34.0% from behind the arc for the season, which could be a problem for the Knicks because they rank 18th in the NBA in three-point shooting percentage allowed over their last 10 games. I think the Pelicans can keep the game close enough for Murray to reach 30 minutes, so I’ll take this over.
Karl Anthony Towns is enjoying his best stretch of the season during the month of March and despite logging only 30 mins per game has averaged 22/13/3, while the Knicks are enjoying a 5 game winning streak. While KAT is playing well, I would suggest he is playing above expectations and he is a regression candidate based on his playing time and usage. He is also playing a Pelicans team that to begin the season were dreadful defensively, in addition to playing at a fast pace, which hasn’t been the case recently and are averaging fewer than 100 possessions over their last three games. They’ve also been tough on opposing Centers, however that seems more of a byproduct of their sluggish pace.
