New Orleans Pelicans: 3 Challenges that stand in the way of a playoff spot

The NBA did the New Orleans Pelicans no favor with how they set up their first-half schedule

Challenge #2- A Tough Schedule

When the NBA released the New Orleans Pelicans’ first-half schedule, I instantly knew that it was a juggernaut.

Not only do the Pelicans have to go through the elite teams from both conferences in the first half of the season, but they’re also going to face a daunting road-trip that takes up most of January. When we acknowledge that, we figured that this season would tough to start for the team.

Right now, we have the Pelicans winning only 17 of their first 37 games. A record of 17-20 is not pretty and the team will have to hope for some lucky breaks to do better than that. My question is what if they don’t?

If the Pelicans do end the first half with a 17-20 record, do they become discouraged and give in like they did last season, or do they rise to the challenge and try to push through the second half for a playoff push?

It’s hard to tell right now what this team’s makeup is and if they can handle the adversity of a tough NBA schedule. That’s before even factoring in the first challenge of COVID-19 into this.

Now is it possible that the Pelicans score a big win somewhere in the first half, and that momentum pushes them to go a little run? Sure, that’s happened many times before, but it’s also possible that this team could get a demoralizing loss against a bad team and fall into a losing streak.

We all want to see the New Orleans Pelicans make the playoffs but for them to actually do it, requires this team to be mentally tough, and handling the challenge of having to go on a run against a tough schedule.