The New Orleans Pelicans opened up their season on Tuesday night with a loss to the Golden State Warriors by a score of 111-95. The Pelicans team that played Tuesday night looked nothing like the team they expected they would have before the season but they have suffered a lot of injuries. As of right now Nate Robinson and Ish Smith are sharing point guard duties for the Pelicans due to the injuries and this may be an audition for them as it is being reported that one of them will likely be waived when they get Norris Cole and Jrue Holiday back, according to Nick Borges of ESPN.
Neither Robinson nor Smith were on the Pelicans roster two weeks ago and as a matter of fact Smith signed with the Pelicans just one day before their season opener. The reason the Pelicans needed to bring them in and play them in the season opener is that Norris Cole is out indefinitely with a high ankle sprain and Jrue Holiday is on a minute's restriction with a leg injury.
Holiday was expected to play in the season opener but he was held out and will instead likely make his season debut on Wednesday night. Even when Holiday does play he will probably only play a maximum of 20 minutes in the beginning of the season. Cole's injury happened more than two weeks ago and there hasn't been a timetable for when he will return but when he does the Pelicans might choose to move on from either Robinson or Smith as they don't need four point guards.
In the opening game Robinson drew the start but it was Smith that got the majority of the minutes and was the best player on the floor for New Orleans. Robinson was largely a non-factor in his 19 minutes while Smith scored 17 points and added nine assists in his 38 minutes of action. On a night when Anthony Davis struggled mightily from the field (4-20) it was Smith who provided the Pelicans with a spark and kept them reasonably close although it ultimately wasn't enough.
It's just one game but it would seem as though Smith has the advantage over Robinson to stick on the team should the Pelicans decide to waive a point guard when they get everybody back healthy. Smith is one of the quickest players in the NBA and he showed on opening night he can be a big factor for a team with big aspirations while Robinson did nothing to standout.
