1) Week 17 of the NBA schedule for New Orleans (22-31) is an abbreviated one, featuring home games Tuesday and Thursday against Portland and Oklahoma City, respectively. The game against the Thunder is one of two NBA games that night that will wrap up the pre-All-Star break portion of the regular season.
2) The Pelicans enter this week five games behind eighth-place Memphis (27-26), which won a close game at Washington last night. New Orleans has pulled within a half game of No. 10 San Antonio (22-30), which is 0-4 so far on its annual rodeo road trip.
3) New Orleans is coming off an excellent Saturday win at Indiana, by a 124-117 margin. The Pelicans went 2-0 on their road trip to Chicago and Indiana.
4) Listen and watch the radio Calls of the Game from Saturday’s triumph.
5) Fittingly for a season that has seen a massive turnaround, the Pelicans have gone 8-2 against the Eastern Conference since Dec. 28, after starting the campaign just 1-9 vs. that conference.