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Five things to know about the Pelicans on March 6, 2018

1)      The Week 21 schedule for New Orleans (36-26) begins Tuesday at the Los Angeles Clippers, in a 9:30 p.m. Central game that will be televised nationally by TNT. Due to TNT’s exclusivity, it will not be available on Fox Sports New Orleans, but Joel Meyers and David Wesley will be back on the airwaves for Wednesday’s game at Sacramento. Pregame coverage on WRNO 99.5 FM radio begins at 9 tonight, hosted by Daniel Sallerson. The Pelicans are on an eight-game winning streak, the franchise’s longest since 2011.

2)      Monday was an off day for the team, but Anthony Davis was named Western Conference Player of the Week. Watch highlights from another outstanding seven days for Davis.

3)      This week’s slate features four Pelicans games, including matchups against three playoff contenders, starting with the Clippers (34-28), then Sacramento (20-44), Washington (36-28) and Utah (34-30). The Clippers and Jazz are currently in ninth and 10th place in the Western Conference, respectively, so these Tuesday and Sunday tilts represent chances for New Orleans to directly create a bigger cushion in its bid to reach the postseason. Nine of the team’s 13 remaining games in March are against clubs that currently sport winning records.

4)      New Orleans zoomed all the way up to seventh place on NBA.com’s power rankings released for Week 21. NBA.com writer John Schuhmann noted, “As he’s averaged 37.3 points over the Pelicans' eight-game winning streak, Davis has played stronger inside, and not just in regard to his scoring. His eight offensive boards against Phoenix were one short of tying his career high and he simply outworked the Spurs to the offensive rebound that helped seal a win on Wednesday.” Meanwhile, New Orleans is fifth in SI.com’s power rankings (“This is honestly a remarkable story”), as well as seventh on ESPN.com’s poll (“In the past 40 seasons, only The Brow, Shaquille O’Neal, Moses Malone and Karl Malone have averaged 35 points and 10 rebounds over an eight-game win streak, according to the Elias Sports Bureau”). CBS ranks the Pelicans fifth (“he just had a historically great February and Davis is getting some well-deserved MVP hype as a result.”)