The New Orleans Pelicans won’t be in the NBA Playoffs this season but they are probably a lot closer to getting back there than you might think.
The Pels were the prototypical talented young team in that they could play with anyone but also lose to anyone.
They definitely had some players who underperformed, but a lot of the problems with the Pelicans revolved around their youth, especially when it came to blowing leads and winning close games.
These are two areas in which young teams often struggle, so it shouldn’t be a big shock, but given that these are things that can be improved, fans should have some optimism heading into next season.
The Pelicans will undoubtedly shuffle their roster some this offseason, but they have the ability to get to the playoffs just by cleaning up some of their issues with blown leads and close games.
New Orleans Pelicans: Blowing leads and close games
The Pelicans lost 14 games this season in which they held a double-digit lead at some point in the game.
We wrote about why the Pels can’t hold leads, and it is something that needs to be addressed, as this was the main reason they did not make the playoffs.
One of the biggest reasons is free throws, as the Pelicans were once again one of the worst free-throw shooting teams in the NBA, which is a huge factor when you are trying to hold leads.
Fouls allow the other team to stop the clock, slow the game down, and if you don’t make the free throws, they allow the other team to get back into the game, which happened repeatedly to the Pelicans this season.
Their 14 losses after holding double-digit leads were the most in the NBA this season and the primary reason the Pelicans did not make the playoffs.
The other reason is that the New Orleans Pelicans were terrible in the “clutch” which is essentially the last few minutes of a close game.
The Pelicans only won three of their 13 games that were 3-points or closer, one of the worst marks in the NBA. Part of this is again because of free-throw shooting, but the Pelicans also turned the ball over a lot in these situations, often didn’t get good shots and allowed easy ones on the other end.
These are mistakes of youth, as we saw in the Indiana game earlier this season when the Pelicans gave away a close game in the last few seconds.
The New Orleans Pelicans will get better in these situations as they mature and if they can turn these numbers around, will be right in the mix next season.