The time has officially arrived! After months of patiently waiting (and after being teased with things like the preseason schedule and In-Season Tournament schedule), we now have access to the New Orleans Pelicans’ entire 2023-24 regular season schedule.
For those who want to see the entire schedule, be sure to check it out on the team website. But for right now, here are some of the highlights from the schedule reveal.
For starters, their season will begin the day after the official season opener on October 25th when they travel to Memphis to square off against the Memphis Grizzlies – the team Herbert Jones scored a career-high 35 points against last season.
Their first home game of the season won’t be until three days later. On October 28th, the Pelicans will host the New York Knicks for their first of 41 home regular season games.
In total, 12 of the Pelicans’ 82 regular season games will be nationally televised, either airing on TNT, ESPN, or NBA TV. That number is down six games from last year’s total of 18 nationally televised games. Similar to the In-Season Tournament schedule, it looks like the league is hesitant to award the Pelicans with nationally televised games, given the roster’s penchant for injuries.
12 national TV games this season. 6 NBA TV, 4 ESPN, 2 TNT. https://t.co/UNCGrpqMOo
— Christian Clark (@cclark_13) August 17, 2023
That Knicks game will also be their first nationally televised game of the season (broadcasted on NBA TV). After that, their very next game (against the Golden State Warriors on October 30th) will also be playing NBA TV.
Pelicans’ full 2023-24 NBA regular season schedule
Complete New Orleans Pelicans schedule for 2023-24: pic.twitter.com/KizsUiSa4I
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) August 17, 2023
Two games are missing on every schedule, and each team that fails to make it to the knockout stage of the In-Season Tournament will make up those games on December 6th and 8th.
The very next game after that will be a road game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. This will be their first opportunity of the season to enact revenge on the team that ended their season in 2022-23.
The Pelicans don’t play their new rivals (the Phoenix Suns) until January 19th, when the new-look Suns make their first of two trips to New Orleans this season. The Suns and Pelicans have had some juicy battles in the past. But given how much the Suns’ roster has changed in the last handful of months, it is questionable how bad the blood is between those two teams these days.