| BY CHRISTIAN CLARK | Staff writer I have to admit: I didn't think the Pelicans would get here. When they were 1-12 and 3-16, I didn't see a play-in tournament appearance in their future. Yes, the West is weaker than usual. In most years, a team that finishes the regular season 10 games under .500 doesn't get the No. 9 seed. But if you're a Pelicans fan, making it here is something that should be celebrated. They didn't get a single minute from Zion Williamson. Brandon Ingram missed 27 games. Yet here they are — two wins away from making the playoffs for the first time since 2018. I started covering the team in the fall of 2019, which means that I was here for five months before the pandemic changed everything. I haven't seen many instances of what Smoothie King Center looks and sounds like when it's rocking, so I'm very much looking forward to that tonight. Ingram, who has a chance to make the playoffs for the first time in his six-year career, said he will play tonight. He missed the last three games of the season with right hamstring tightness. Here are three key battlegrounds in tonight's game. Oh, and here's my prediction. -- Christian | 
