Three big questions facing the Pelicans with Zion Williamson still out

On Dec. 30, the New Orleans Pelicans were 23-12 and tied for first place in the Western Conference. Just a month and a half later, heading out of the All-Star break, the Pelicans are 30-29 and in the thick of the middle of the West standings.

What happened? Well, two main culprits are largely responsible for all those losses: Zion Williamson's right hamstring and Brandon Ingram's left big toe.

Ingram injured the toe against the Memphis Grizzlies on Nov. 25 and the Pelicans fell to 11-8 that night. However, after that, Williamson put the team on his shoulders, averaging 29.3 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.4 assists over the next 15 games he played (he missed three games during this stretch because of health and safety protocols).

Then on Jan. 2, Williamson hurt his right hamstring. The Pelicans fell to 23-14 that night, and by the time Ingram returned on Jan. 25, the Pelicans were 26-23. The team lost their next four to cap off a 10-game losing streak before finding some footing to climb back above .500 ahead of the break.

The Pelicans faced the toughest schedule in the league in January, and they were forced to do so for much of the month without their top two players. Ingram is back, but now Williamson is set to miss «multiple weeks» because of a reaggravation of his hamstring injury.

How will that impact the Pelicans' playoff push? Here are three big questions facing New Orleans as the team gets set to open the second half with a visit north of the border to face the Toronto Raptors (Thursday, 7:30 p.m. ET).

When Williamson suffered the right hamstring strain against the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan. 2, his original timeline said he would be reevaluated in three weeks. At that mark, Williamson was making what the team