Currently speaking, the New Orleans Pelicans hold the number seven spot in the astronomically talented Western Conference. If the season were to end today, NOLA would be seeing a first-round matchup against James Harden and the Houston Rockets. The problem, however, is the season does not end today. We still have three more months of basketball left to play and, in those three months, many things can happen.
The Pelicans making the postseason this year is far from a guarantee. This season, NOLA has been one rollercoaster of a team. One night they’ll seem like they can take down anyone, including Golden State. However, other nights (Wednesday *cough *cough) they look like a bumbling band of buffoons. As I discreetly alluded to before, Wednesday was a prime example of how up and down this season has been for the Pelicans.
Coming into the night, New Orleans had been the winners of three straight games. In the two contests leading up to Wednesday’s matchup Anthony Davis had a combined total of 93 points and 33 rebounds. The team seemed to be clicking on all cylinders, from the players to the coaching staff. With two of the three teams they’d beaten being playoff bound, it seemed all but certain the Pelicans were headed for their fourth consecutive victory against the lowly Atlanta Hawks.
And then…. well…. Wednesday came.
New Orleans seemed to be picking up right where they had left off. In the first two quarters the Pelicans managed to put up a combined 60 points compared to Atlanta’s 45. Going into halftime, players and fans alike felt pretty confident they’d be coming away from the game as victors. Then the third quarter hit.
New Orleans scored 10 points in the third quarter compared to Atlanta’s 26. Just like that, the score was 71-70 in favor of the Hawks. Because of this, the fourth quarter became more challenging than it had to be and Atlanta came away from the contest with a one point victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. A game that should have added to NOLA’s season win total inevitably ended up doing the exact opposite. And while some may look at this and say “egh, it’s just one loss”, the frequency of these kinds of endings for New Orleans this season is the reason as to why it hurts so bad.
Games like these need to be taken advantage of. Yes, I understand that the Hawks are an NBA team and do have some talented pieces and a very good coach. However, they currently hold the leagues second worst record at 13-31. They are in contention to garner this years number one draft pick or, at the very least, somewhere in the top-five. The Pelicans, on the other hand, are looking to make the playoffs. A game like this is one NOLA should win.
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Right now, the Pelicans hold the seventh seed in the Western Conference. Tomorrow, however, could hold something new. They currently have the same win totals as the Los Angeles Clippers and the Denver Nuggets and are only one game behind the Trail Blazers. For any team, every game should count. However, with how intense this playoff race is, that statement could not be more true. One win could mean climbing up the standings of the Western Conference. One loss could mean falling out of the playoff picture entirely.
At this point, no games should be taken lightly for the Pelicans. As we saw Wednesday, a win is never guaranteed. In the coming days New Orleans squares off against three of the NBA’s bottom feeders in the Memphis Grizzlies, Chicago Bulls and the Charlotte Hornets. After this, they will find a tougher string of games awaiting, as they have reservations with the Houston Rockets and Clippers. If New Orleans is the playoff bound team we hope they are, they have to win these next three contests. Once All-Star break is over, players start to get fatigued and wins start to become harder to come by.
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Is a victory ever guaranteed? As it has been explained numerous times in the words above, of course not! However, with every team, excluding the Sacramento Kings, there are always games that fans look at thinking, “they should win that one.” In regards to these next three, they should all be seen as “should win” contests. Tomorrow marks the first of these games as NOLA will be playing host to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Stay tuned!