1) The Week 10 schedule for New Orleans (15-16) consists entirely of road games against opponents sporting winning records, starting with Milwaukee (20-9) on Wednesday, followed by weekend contests in California against the Lakers (18-12) and Sacramento (16-14). The Pelicans will return home to Louisiana late Sunday, before heading back on the road on Christmas, ahead of a Dec. 26 game in Dallas.
2) New Orleans will practice this morning in Metairie, then travel to Wisconsin this afternoon. Its first game in the brand-new Fiserv Forum is Wednesday at 7 p.m.
3) The Pelicans are No. 14 in NBA.com’s power rankings, maintaining the same spot from the previous week. As writer John Schuhmann noted, “(New Orleans) can’t stay healthy. Nikola Mirotic has missed four of the last seven games and (Julius) Randle went down with an ankle injury on Sunday. The Pelicans are 4-11 on the road, where they’ll play 11 of their next 16 games.” ESPN.com lists New Orleans at No. 17 in its weekly rankings, while CBS Sports matched NBA.com’s appraisal by placing the Pelicans 14th.
4) New Orleans is 12th in the Western Conference standings, one of just four teams under .500. On the plus side, the Pelicans are only 1.5 games behind seventh-place Dallas (15-13).
5) In case you missed it, check out an “Outside the Paint” video on Elfrid Payton.