As the New Orleans Pelicans draw closer to the start of the 2022-2023 NBA season, Pelicans.com writer Jim Eichenhofer compiled a list of the Top 10 home games on the season schedule. In case you missed it, here’s a review of all the can’t miss matchups at the Smoothie King Center starting on October 23:
10. Utah Jazz - Sunday, Oct. 23 at 6 p.m.
It figures to be a full house and a fun evening in the Smoothie King Center when New Orleans tips off its 41-game home schedule with an Opening Night matchup against Utah.
The Pelicans’ first game overall (Oct. 19 at Brooklyn) and first home game (vs. Utah) are against teams that have already either traded a major piece or experienced a tumultuous offseason. New Orleans would love to get out to a fast start by prevailing against opponents who may be in bit in flux by late October. In between the Nets and Jazz games is an Oct. 21 visit to Charlotte.
9. Phoenix Suns - Friday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m.
I mean, did you watch the playoffs this spring? After rolling to an NBA-best 64 wins during the regular season, top-seeded Phoenix met eighth-seeded New Orleans in the Western Conference quarterfinals and had to earn every victory en route to a 4-2 series clinch.
The weekend of Dec. 9-11 consists of a “baseball series” between the Pelicans and Suns, who’ll remain in town for a Sunday afternoon rematch following this Friday evening affair. Oddly, three of these squads’ four head-to-head matchups in 2022-23 take place over an eight-day span, with New Orleans heading to Arizona the following weekend. The consecutive home games against the Suns are part of a four-game Pelicans homestand that begins vs. Denver (Dec. 4) and Detroit (Dec. 7).
8. Denver Nuggets - Sunday, Dec. 4 at 2:30 p.m.
Prior to and after Thanksgiving, New Orleans will try to benefit from an extended stretch of home cooking. From Nov. 10 through Dec. 11, the Pelicans play 12 of their 15 games in the Smoothie King Center, including separate six- and four-game homestands. This Sunday afternoon tilt vs. Denver marks the beginning of the latter homestand.
New Orleans and Denver played some very entertaining basketball last season, with two of four meetings going to overtime.
7. Atlanta Hawks - Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m.
Two up-and-coming young teams were selected by TNT to be part of a nationally-televised doubleheader (Minnesota at Denver is the nightcap), five days prior to the Super Bowl. These two cities are more familiar with each other in the NFL than the NBA, but it should be fun watching New Orleans standouts such as CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson compete against Atlanta’s talented backcourt of Trae Young and newly-acquired Dejounte Murray. Both teams finished outside of the top eight of their conference standings after 82 games last season, but were able to earn playoff berths on the strength of 2-0 records in the play-in tournament.
6. Boston Celtics - Friday, Nov. 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Boston vs. New Orleans pits two of the most talented young teams in the NBA, with the Celtics coming off an Eastern Conference championship and Finals trip that peaked with a 2-1 series lead over Golden State. Boston has been the guest for some of the more entertaining games in the Smoothie King Center in recent years, highlighted by a February 2021 matchup in which New Orleans prevailed by a 120-115 margin in overtime. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown headline the top of a Celtics roster that will match up with the likes of CJ McCollum and All-Star forwards Brandon Ingram (2020) and Zion Williamson (2021).
5. Golden State Warriors - Friday, Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Ever since Golden State began its run of NBA championships midway through the last decade and Steph Curry became a household name in sports, tickets to Warriors games have been among the most coveted in the Smoothie King Center. Young fans in particular adore Curry, while increasing numbers of blue and gold jerseys have been part of road crowds across the NBA for multiple years. Behind Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, Golden State is always a difficult opponent, winners of four league titles and six Western Conference crowns over the past eight seasons.
4. Minnesota Timberwolves - Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m.
Is Minnesota-New Orleans a Western Conference matchup NBA fans will be paying close attention to for years to come? It seems possible, particularly if the Timberwolves and Pelicans reach their potential, partly spearheaded by recent No. 1 overall draft picks Anthony Edwards (2020) and Zion Williamson (2019), as well as various other young talent.
The Pelicans hope to improve their position in the standings during a post-Christmas stretch in which they play three straight home games, as well as five at home over a seven-game span.
3. Milwaukee Bucks - Monday, Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.
National TV broadcasters have preferred scheduling Milwaukee-New Orleans since Zion Williamson became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 draft, partly for the entertainment value of his unique matchup with two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. A week before Christmas, this contest also brings longtime New Orleans standout guard Jrue Holiday back to the Smoothie King Center for a third time since his trade during the ’20 offseason.
Hosting the Bucks ends a December stretch of the Pelicans playing five consecutive games against the same two Western Conference opponents (Phoenix three times, Utah twice in Salt Lake City).
2. Memphis Grizzlies - Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 6:30 p.m.
Due to injuries, basketball fans haven’t gotten to see many head-to-head meetings between the top two picks of the 2019 NBA Draft, but New Orleans has won all four instances over Memphis when both Zion Williamson and Ja Morant were in uniform (1-0 in the Orlando bubble, 3-0 during the 2020-21 campaign). The first possibility in 2022-23 takes place in mid-November, with TNT choosing to broadcast it to a national audience. The Grizzlies are looking to take another step after going 56-26 last season and winning the Southwest Division for the first time in franchise history.
1. Los Angeles Lakers - Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m.
There are a wide range of reasons why the Lakers are downright detested by a sizeable swath of the New Orleans fan base, starting with the unsightly 2019 public trade demand and departure of Anthony Davis. The Davis deal itself actually gave Pelicans aficionados even more reason to wish ill upon the future of the Lakers, because the multi-pronged transaction included significant draft capital from Southern California. A lottery pick transferred from L.A. to La. is how Dyson Daniels was selected No. 8 overall in June by the Pelicans, who also have swap rights in 2023 with the Lake Show’s first-round pick. Add it up and it probably should not be at all surprising that the Lakers’ visit to the Crescent City was voted the home game hoops fans in the Gulf South are most looking forward to attending this winter.