New Orleans Pelicans schedule lookahead: Ranking this week’s games by level of importance
By Mat Issa
With only three full weeks remaining in the NBA’s regular season, there are scarce chances for teams like our New Orleans Pelicans to establish themselves as a postseason team.
With the team only 2.5 games behind the sixth-seeded Dallas Mavericks, there is still a puncher’s chance that the Pelicans can clinch a playoff spot by the end of the regular season.
However, based on the way they have been performing of late (they are 10-23 in their last 33 games without Zion Williamson), the NBA Play-In Tournament seems like the more likely pathway toward the playoffs for this team (if they are going to be in the playoffs at all at this point). In that regard, New Orleans is one game behind the Utah Jazz for the tenth seed (aka the final play-in spot).
With the margins being so razor thin and every game holding a great deal of significance, we decided to rank this week’s slate of games by level of importance.