3 Games to Monitor for the New Orleans Pelicans Playoff Chase
The New Orleans Pelicans still have a chance to steal the eight seed, but they will need some help from several teams on an important Friday night for their playoff hopes.
The New Orleans Pelicans are running out of time. Mired in a tough eight game stretch with only 20 games left in the season, the Pelicans don’t have games to waste.
They have lost three in a row and are only 5-5 in their last ten overall, hardly inspiring basketball for a team that many had penciled in for a first round matchup with the Lakers.
The young Pelicans seemed to get a bit ahead of themselves, and overlooked a couple of bad teams that they should have beaten.
They do have the third easiest remaining schedule in the NBA, but games aren’t played on paper, as the Pelicans found out the hard way against Minnesota Tuesday night. The defense forgot to get off the bus and New Orleans suffered a brutal home loss to one of the worst teams in the NBA.
The New Orleans Pelicans now find themselves in a tough spot where winning their games isn’t enough, they are going to need some help.
There are three important games to monitor that will have a direct effect on the New Orleans Pelicans’ rapidly dwindling playoff hopes.
The Pelicans have a tough home game against the Miami Heat, so a win is far from certain, but they do have a chance to pick up ground on three of the four teams they are chasing.
Here are three games to monitor as the New Orleans Pelicans try to pull off an unlikely run to the playoffs.
San Antonio Spurs at Brooklyn Nets, 7:30 PM ET
The San Antonio Spurs (26-34) will enter tonight’s game as the 11th seed, just one game ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Spurs haven’t played particularly well since the All-Star break and have only won four of their last 10 overall. They find themselves in the unfamiliar position of being on the outside of the playoffs looking in, and with most of their players on the wrong side of 30, this might finally be the offseason where the Spurs rebuild for real.
The Nets (27-34) are in a holding pattern with both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant missing significant time with injuries. In the Eastern Conference, a holding pattern is still good enough for the seventh seed, which illustrates the stark gap in talent between the East and the West.
In the East, you can still be a seven seed with a losing record, while all the playoff teams in the West are at least .500.
The Spurs are just 11-20 on the road this season and the Nets are 16-14 at home. If the New Orleans Pelicans can get a win tonight against Miami, they will be in good shape to gain ground on San Antonio.
With two more games remaining against the Spurs, the Pelicans will be in good shape to catch them if they can get on track and take the head-to-head matchups.