New Orleans Pelicans: 5 most important games after the All-Star Break
By Willie Lutz
Tuesday, March 24th – Memphis Grizzlies @ New Orleans Pelicans
In the final meeting between these two teams on the season, the New Orleans Pelicans will have a chance to get the final word in a matchup that could very well define who winds up as this year’s eighth seed in the West.
They’ll meet one final time in Memphis on March 21, but it’s the closing statement that will have the most surrounding excitement. However, if that game three days prior is close, eyes will flock to this thrilling match.
So far in the battles between these two hyped, young teams, the Pelicans have shown a lot of resistance against the Grizzlies. The Pelicans won a convincing 126-116 meeting in Memphis on Jan. 20 only to blow their doors off in New Orleans for a 139-111 win on Jan. 31.
Memphis currently owns the eighth seed in the conference, but they’ll have the hardest schedule in the league starting after the All-Star break.
Their tough schedule plays no small factor in what the rest of their season looks like, especially with meetings against the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics, plus two meetings with both the Los Angeles Lakers and Toronto Raptors.
The meetings between these two exciting young cores will always have some extra attention, as AAU teammates Ja Morant and Zion Williamson have become one of the feel-good stories of the NBA season after going back-to-back at the top of the 2019 NBA Draft.
With both players clearly showing some NBA composure, their battles could be fun to watch for a long time still to come, though it’s a thrill to get to watch them go to war for their team’s playoff fates.