NBA: One x-factor for every team heading into the restart

New Orleans Pelicans

X-factor: Lonzo Ball 

When thinking about potential x-factors for the New Orleans Pelicans heading into the NBA’s restart, it would be easy to simply point to Zion Williamson. After all, he had only played in 19 games and will be the biggest reason why the Pelicans make a run towards the postseason (if they can make it happen).

However, one player that could help the Pelicans raise their ceiling in the Orlando bubble is Lonzo Ball. In the five games in the month of March, Lonzo was playing excellent basketball – the best of the season thus far. And it probably had a great deal to do with the comfort level that he felt with Zion at this point in the season.

Either way, Lonzo was beginning to blossom as a real game-changer for the Pelicans. During those five games in March, Lonzo averaged 21 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists on 54 percent shooting from the field and 51 percent shooting from 3-point range.

Can he carry that over into the bubble? If so, the Pelicans will be that much more dangerous.