Take the longest New Orleans homestand of the season (six games). Fill it with some of the NBA’s elite clubs visiting town (the league’s best, third-best and fifth-best records come to the Blender this week). Add some of the highest stakes the Pelicans have ever encountered in March (a top-four seed is within reach, for the first time since 2008). Sprinkle in other opponents headlined by veteran stars (Kevin Durant, Devin Booker) or rising phenoms (Victor Wembanyama, Paolo Banchero). Mix it together, and you have a virtually unprecedented two-week span on tap in the Smoothie King Center from Tuesday (vs. Oklahoma City) through April 5 (vs. San Antonio).
One of the NBA’s hottest teams themselves at 11-5 since the All-Star break, the Pelicans (44-27) have put themselves in their most optimal position at this stage of the regular season in more than a decade. The last three times New Orleans reached the Western Conference playoffs, it qualified on either the final day of the regular season (2015), with only a few days left (2018), or via the play-in tournament (2022). This spring, the Pelicans are poised to accomplish several major objectives, without needing to sweat them out into mid-April. Of course, they’ll need to put together a successful homestand in order to do so, starting with games vs. Oklahoma City (49-21, second in West), Milwaukee (46-25, second in East) and Boston (57-14, leading NBA). Next week, Phoenix (42-29), Orlando (42-29) and San Antonio (15-56) travel to the Crescent City.
In roughly descending order, here are a few of the items at stake for the Pelicans during what promises to be a memorable two weeks on their home floor:
50 wins.
At 44-27, New Orleans only needs to go 6-5 over its final 11 games to reach the 50-victory mark, which would also represent the second-best record in franchise history (the 2007-08 Hornets went 56-26 and earned a No. 2 seed, behind only the Kobe Bryant-led Lakers). New Orleans finished 49-33 in 2008-09 and 48-34 in 2017-18, both well within reach.
Likelihood of achieving on homestand: Very difficult. The Pelicans would need to continue to play their best basketball of the 2023-24 campaign and sweep the homestand, knocking off three teams that are above .500 on the road, including Boston (25-11 in away games), Oklahoma City (21-14) and Phoenix (19-15).
HYPE: New Orleans Pelicans 6-game homestand
West No. 4 seed.
New Orleans is probably too many games behind third-place Minnesota (49-22, five games ahead) to make up that gap with only three weeks to play, but the Pelicans are suddenly just a half-game behind the fourth-place Clippers (44-26). As soon as Monday night, New Orleans could leapfrog LA, if the Clippers lose in Southern California vs. Indiana. The Pelicans own the tiebreaker (3-1 season series), but face one of the NBA’s most difficult remaining schedules. The Clippers also have a top-half strength of schedule, including a challenging slate concurrent with NOLA’s six-game homestand. Following the Indiana game in Crypto.com Arena, the Clippers go on a four-game road trip to Philadelphia, Orlando, Charlotte and Sacramento.
Likelihood of achieving on homestand: It’s near impossible to clinch fourth over the next two weeks, but the Pelicans could at least move ahead of the Clippers in the race with a strong homestand. Taking a lead over LA into the final five games (four-game West road trip, April 14 home game vs. Lakers) would be ideal. New Orleans has not opened the playoffs at home since 2008.
Top-six seed.
The primary objective for New Orleans over an extended recent span, earning a playoff spot after 82 games would be greatly appreciated by the Pelicans and their fans, after consecutive play-in tourney appearances as a No. 9 seed. Realistically, there are three teams behind New Orleans within striking distance (Phoenix is 42-29; Sacramento and Dallas are both 41-29). That could make the April 1 home game vs. the Suns the most important date on NOLA’s six-game homestand. Of note, Dallas and Sacramento actually play each other twice this week (Tuesday and Friday in Golden 1 Center), which guarantees one (or both) teams will lose a game over the next five days.
Likelihood of achieving on homestand: It’s going to be difficult to lock up a playoff berth by the buzzer of the April 5 homestand finale vs. San Antonio, but if the Pelicans can go at least 4-2 or 5-1, they should be on the verge of clinching.
Postseason berth.
Simply finishing anywhere in the West’s top 10 would yield a third straight postseason appearance for the Pelicans (including last year’s play-in spot), something they’ve never achieved in franchise history. They’re 8.5 games ahead of 11th-place Houston (35-35), making this a fait accompli.
Likelihood of achieving on homestand: New Orleans’ magic number to seal no worse than a play-in spot is 4, meaning a 4-2 homestand gets it done, but any Rockets loss also helps.
What’s at stake for the six visitors
Tuesday, Oklahoma City (7 p.m.): The Thunder are just a half-game behind first-place Denver in the West.
Thursday, Milwaukee (7 p.m.): Under in-season replacement head coach Doc Rivers, the second-place Bucks have built a three-game lead over No. 3 Cleveland in the East.
Saturday, Boston (4 p.m.): The Celtics’ magic number to clinch East homecourt advantage is down to 1, making it likely they’ll have that sealed by the weekend (Boston plays twice in Atlanta before then).
April 1, Phoenix (7 p.m.): NOLA’s closest pursuer in the standings, the Suns are only two games behind the Pelicans, also hosting them April 7 in Arizona.
April 3, Orlando (7 p.m.): The Magic are one game behind No. 3 Cleveland and a half-game back of No. 4 New York in the East.
April 5, San Antonio (7 p.m.): Top rookie Wembanyama and the Spurs are out of contention, but trying to show progress in the final month, before adding another high-lottery pick in June.