The New Orleans Pelicans Are Still Alive After Two Losses

The New Orleans Pelicans’ playoff chances are still alive after Sunday’s games.

The New Orleans Pelicans lost a close, winnable game against the Utah Jazz and got hammered by the Clippers, but their hopes are still alive.

The Trail Blazers, Grizzlies and Kings all lost Sunday, leaving both Memphis and Sacramento still winless and Portland at 1-1.

The San Antonio Spurs won both of their first games, launching them into the 9th seed, just two back of Memphis, who has to be feeling at least a little nervous.

The Pelicans have dropped all the way down to 12th and now have three teams to leapfrog if they want a shot at the playoffs.

Things look bleak, but the Pelicans do somewhat control their own destiny and can still get there if they just string together some wins in games that they should. They lost to two better teams in the Jazz and Clippers, but the rest of the schedule softens from here on out.

The Pels play the Grizzlies, who are on the tail end of a back to back, then take on the Kings and Wizards. These are games they can and should win, so all the Pelicans can do is take care of business and hope they get some help.

This is a good test for a young New Orleans Pelicans team.

One of the stated goals of the Pelicans franchise was to “play meaningful games” and they are, so in many ways, this will be a success no matter how it turns out.

Their young players are getting reps in a “playoff” atmosphere, and even though there are no fans, there is value to playing these kind of pressure minutes.

They will also get a chance to show what they are made of after getting embarrassed by the Clippers, who barely broke a sweat dispatching the overmatched Pels.

Even if the Pelicans don’t end up making the playoffs, it would be nice to see them put together some wins, show some life and make the most of these eight games from a developmental standpoint.

Luckily for the Pelicans, no one else is winning either, so their playoff chances are still alive. They just have to win a couple of games, keep fighting and see what happens.