Willie Green’s stern message to Pelicans during playoff push

New Orleans’ 139-98 road win over Toronto was the fourth time since February 10th the Pelicans kept a team under 100 points. The Raptors shot just 39% from the field. Green insisted that level of defense is the key to this team’s season.

“[Defense is] the foundation of this team, getting deflections, getting steals. Collectively as a team, it was a dominant performance wire-to-wire,” explained Green. “It’s about focusing in on our opponent, locking in on the details which our guys are doing. Our game plan discipline was extremely high. We want to every game give ourselves a chance to win it. It’s special when you can go out on the road and win games. It lets you know you have an opportunity to be a really good team.”

The Pelicans have some advantages in the Western Conference playoff race. They cannot squander a top-six position like they have 17 double-digit leads this season. The priority is to play up to the team’s standard, not down to the competition. It was a problem earlier this season, but the team’s two most recent wins suggest New Orleans has gotten over those hiccups. This locker room has grown up together; now it’s time to show off the work to the world.

“The challenge for us is always looking ourselves in the mirror and going out with the mentality that we want to be dominant every game,” Green admitted. “We want to execute on both ends of the floor. Every game we should have an opportunity to win, period. That’s going to be the challenge going down the stretch. These games are going to be exciting. There are teams fighting for positioning and we’re one of them. Each game that we play, we’re going to have to have a mentality that we want to execute on both ends of the floor.”