1) Happy Valentine’s Day. For the New Orleans Pelicans (30-26), today marks the conclusion of the unofficial first half of the regular season, with a Wednesday home game on the docket against the Los Angeles Lakers (23-32). Tickets are available here.
2) New Orleans enters Wednesday in eighth place in the Western Conference, but a win tonight combined with other results over the next 48 hours could improve its position. The Pelicans are only half of a game behind both sixth-place Denver (31-26) and seventh-place Portland (31-26). Denver closes its pre-All-Star schedule Thursday in Milwaukee, while Portland wraps up tonight vs. Golden State. Even fifth-place Oklahoma City (32-26) is within reach for New Orleans by the break, but the Thunder would have to lose tonight at home to the Grizzlies, combined with a Pelicans win over the Lakers.
3) The Pelicans made it two wins in a row Monday, beating Detroit 118-103.