Game Day Preview: The New Orleans Pelicans look to outlast the Pacers

The New Orleans Pelicans are coming off a 115-105 victory last night against the Dallas Mavericks. Tonight, they’ll face a charged-up Indiana Pacer team that has playoff hopes of their own.

The New Orleans Pelicans earned a much-needed victory last night against the Dallas Mavericks. The Pelicans were without Jrue Holiday who is suffering from flu-like symptoms. It’s unclear if Jrue will or will not play this evening against the Pacers.

Anthony Davis was his usual dominant self against the Mavericks, scoring 37 points on 15-of-21 shooting. Rajon Rondo carried some of the scoring load with Holiday out, dropping a cool 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting. It’s also worth noting this is the first time the Pelicans have won a game where Nikola Mirotic has failed to score a least 10 points, he finished with eight.

Tonight is game two of a three-games in three nights set for the Pelicans. Indiana is in a similar position to the New Orleans Pelicans. They’re 41-30 on the season, 2nd in their division, and 4th in the East. They have an interesting dynamic with Victor Oladipo who has elevated his scoring game, averaging 23.2 points a game. This is a six-point swing from his career average of 17 points a game.

This, of course, is the makeup game from February 7th. The game was postponed due to a leaky roof in the Smoothie King Center. Since then, there have been no issues with the roof at the Smoothie King Center.

The Pacers also have a budding star in Myles Turner who holds down the low-post with help from Thaddeus Young. Myles and Young combine for a season average of 24 points and 12 rebounds a night for the Pacers. That in addition to Oladipo and the outside shooting of Bojan Bogdanovic is sure to be of concern for Alvin Gentry and company.

The Wild Western Conference Playoff Race

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The New Orleans Pelicans are now holding down the fifth spot in the Western Conference. Oklahoma City still has a full game lead on New Orleans for the fourth spot after suffering it’s 30th loss of the season at the hands of the Boston Celtics last night 99-100.

The seventh-place Minnesota Timberwolves are keeping their playoff hopes alive after beating the Los Angeles Clippers last night 123-109. Utah continues to drift toward the bottom of the Western Conference after losing to Atlanta last night 99-94. Portland also suffered its first loss in 14 games at the hands of the Houston Rockets 115-111.

Tonight, Denver is in Chicago to face the Bulls. The Los Angeles Clippers will play their second game in as many nights against the Milwaukee Bucks and the sixth-placed San Antonio Spurs are at home against the Washington Wizards.

Next: NOLA beats Dallas 115-105

The playoff structure of the Western Conference changes daily. Those who win stay alive and those who lose are in danger of falling out of the race. Luckily for the New Orleans Pelicans, the wins have come more than the losses. However, this week beings three more games including tonight and tomorrow.