1) New Orleans (18-17) is back in action Saturday for a rare home/home back-to-back, against New York (17-18). Please note that tip-off is at 6 p.m., as is generally the case for Saturday games in the Smoothie King Center.
2) Check out our statistical preview of Saturday’s interconference matchup.
3) The Pelicans lost 128-120 to Dallas on Friday, with the Mavericks canning a team-record 22 three-pointers.
4) Despite the loss, New Orleans remains in the top eight of the Western Conference, 2.5 games ahead of the ninth-place Clippers (15-19). With the Clippers idle on Saturday, that lead will be either 2.0 or 3.0 games at the end of this evening, depending on the outcome of Knicks-Pelicans.
5) New Orleans will get a multi-day break from games after tonight, before returning to action Wednesday at Utah, which is currently in 10th place in the West and 3.5 games behind the Pelicans. The Jazz host Cleveland on Saturday.