Last night, on Tuesday, February 25, the New Orleans Pelicans won their 15th game of the season, downing the San Antonio Spurs for the second time in a row, 109-103. The San Antonio Spurs were without Victor Wembanyama for both outings, as he's been ruled out for the remainder of the season due to a rare deep vein thrombosis diagnosis.
Wemby's overpowering presence would surely have affected the outcomes of these games, but maybe Zion Williamson and the rest of the Pelicans still would have been able to get the job done. Ultimately, New Orleans can only play the team that's put in front of them, and they took advantage of his absence to rattle off two straight wins against the Spurs, giving them just their fourth winning streak so far this season.
They came away with plenty of positive takeaways, including some great teamplay in the fourth quarter, late-game heroics from Zion, and Bruce Brown Jr.'s best game with his new team so far. Unfortunately, these moral victories might not be enough to offset the negative consequences that this mini-win streak might ensue for the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Pelicans are costing themselves valuable positioning in the 2025 NBA Draft lottery odds
Within the first few weeks of the 2024-25 NBA season, the New Orleans Pelicans were essentially eliminated from playoff contention due to a flurry of injuries that took out practically their entire core in the early year. While they weren't mathematically ruled out of the postseason, it was very clear early on that the Pelicans would not be vying for a playoff berth this season.
From there, their focus should have been on losing as many games as possible in order to maximize their odds for the 2025 NBA Draft lottery. New Orleans has done a pretty great job of tanking, as they sit at just 15-43, in 14th place in the Western Conference standings.
Unfortunately, their 15th win was a meaningful one. Not only did it lift them out of the bottom of the Western Conference, but it also significantly shifted their place in the lottery ladder. Starting with the 2020 draft, the NBA implemented new lottery rules in an effort to cut down on tanking and even out the odds. Now, the teams with the three worst records all have the same odds to land the top pick.
The three bottom teams also all have a 52.1 percent chance to come away with a top-three selection. With their win over the Spurs, the Pelicans jumped from the second-worst record to the fourth-worst. That might not seem like a big deal, but it significantly changes the odds.
New Orleans's chances to land the top pick just went from 14 percent to 12.5. Their odds at the second selection went from 13.4 to 12.2 percent, they slid from 12.7 to 11.9 for the third pick, and dropped from 12.0 to 11.5 for the fourth spot. Overall, their chances at landing a top-four pick wen from 52.1 percent to 48.1, all from one win.
There's still plenty of time for them to make up the ground they lost, but this victory over the Spurs really highlights the razor-thin margins that the Pelicans are working with for the rest of the season. They're only a half game ahead of the Charlotte Hornets and the Utah Jazz, but they'll have their work cut out for them to guarantee a bottom-three finish.