4. January 27 – @ Milwaukee Bucks
The Pelicans will finish playing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma City Thunder around 9:30 pm Central Standard Time (CST). Players and the press corps might get out of the arena by 11:00 pm. The flight to Milwaukee will land around 4:00 a.m. (going by past trips). Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram will start hearing calls for the busses by 4:00 p.m. Meanwhile, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, and Khris Middleton will have not seen a plane since January 23.
3. March 22 – @ Miami Heat
There are 12 games left after the Pelicans go play in Miami, the third game of four on the road. That’s a lot of flight miles just to wind up facing a Miami Heat team that is (potentially) trying to figure out how to incorporate Damian Lillard. Erik Spoelstra getting warmed up for the NBA Playoffs is also never an easy outing.