Charles Barkley is hyped for the first round of the playoffs, and he desires some tight matchups in the Western Conference. After the Los Angeles Lakers took 7th seed, all eyes were on the Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans for the final spot in the playoffs. However, before the last play-in game today, Barkley revealed who he wanted to see the Oklahoma City Thunder battle with. It looks like Brandon Ingram took notes of it. 

Barkley shared on Inside the NBA, “Well, I really don’t care who win these games, but I really want Sacramento to win tonight. Coz I think it would be a better series against the Oklahoma City.” The only reason Barkley did not want the Pelicans in the playoffs is Zion Williamson. He continued, “Because without Zion, Oklahoma City gonna sweep the Pelicans. That’s just my personal opinion.”

Just a few hours after Barkley shared his desire, Brandon Ingram dropped 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists, to eliminate the Sacramento Kings in the play-in battle. De’Aaron Fox finished the game with 35 points, which did not help the Kings to recover the double-digit point deficit. However, what’s to be noted here is that Barkley’s concern for the Pelicans has only risen now. 

Barkley wants some fun in the first round and especially a lot of “high-scoring games“. The Chuckster might not have got the memo. While the Kings were the NBA’s best offensive team last season, it wasn’t the case this time around. In fact, the Pelicans, with an offensive rating of 116.5 ranked 11th in the NBA, while Sacramento ranked 13th with a 116.2 ORT.

We can still expect to see some offensive fireworks when the Pelicans and OKC matchup in the first round. Let’s see if the Pelicans can fulfill Charles Barkley’s wish. However, before that, let’s see how Ingram proved Shaq wrong too.

Brandon Ingram gets an apology after Shaq sided with the Kings

Shaq believed the Kings could beat the Pelicans by double digits as Williamson was ruled out for the game. He said, “You guys ain’t got Zion. We know y’all beat us like that one time before, but y’all ain’t got Zion, y’all are cooked’. So I’m going with Sacramento tonight, by double digits.” After Ingram turned the tables, Shaq was nice enough to apologize to Ingram and the Pelicans. 

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He said, “Brandon, Shaq here, I owe you guys an apology, with the absence of Zion, was going to take an emotional toll on you guys.” However, Ingram was “locked in“, as he revealed he did not check his phone for 3-4 days to prepare for the do-or-die game. Ingram is averaging 20.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.7 assists this season. Although Williamson will be out for the next few games, CJ McCollum, Jose Alvarado, Trey Murphy III, etc. have filled his absence with stellar performances.

The Pelicans are facing the No.1 seed Thunder in the first round. They have defeated the Thunder only once in the regular season. But let’s see if the narrative can change in the playoffs.