New Orleans Pelicans: 3 storylines to follow after All-Star Break
By Willie Lutz
1. Can the New Orleans Pelicans make up ground on the Memphis Grizzlies to jump into the playoffs?
The New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies are two of the most exciting cores in basketball, which is why it would be awesome for the league if the final seed in this year’s playoffs came down to the pair of teams.
Currently, the Grizzlies have a strong lead on the eighth seed in the Western Conference with their seemingly improbable 28-26 record. It gives them a 5.5 game lead on the Pelicans for the playoff spot, as New Orleans sits in eleventh place 23-32 record.
However, the Pelicans have two sizable advantages on their side; schedule and key veterans.
In terms of schedule, the Grizzlies have the hardest slate of games remaining in the league, per Tankathon.
While they do have a strong lead and have shown poise against good teams, they’ll have two games against the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, Toronto Raptors, plus games against the Milwaukee Bucks and LA Clippers to give you a taste of their brutal final 28 games.
It also won’t help that Memphis lost a little experience at the deadline.
When comparing the Grizzlies to the Pelicans, it’s hard to ignore the value of having someone like Jrue Holiday on the team, someone with some playoff acumen and with lots of big-game experience under their belt.
One of the things that could really hurt Memphis heading into the waning months of the season is their decision to include Jae Crowder in the package that sent Andre Iguodala to the Miami Heat at the NBA Trade Deadline.
Crowder isn’t a part of the Grizzlies’ core, but he was certainly a factor in the team’s success up to this point in their season. While I think Justise Winslow is an exciting prospect with a notable ceiling, Crowder was one of the few rotation-level veterans on a really young Memphis roster.
No matter what, it’ll be important for the New Orleans Pelicans to keep notching wins over conference opponents to make up playoff ground.
They’ll start their post-break run next Friday against the ninth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers, who they Pelicans are 3-0 against this season including a commanding win in their second-to-last game before All-Star Weekend.