1) There was more help for New Orleans on the scoreboard Thursday in the Western Conference, as Memphis was upset by Detroit in a surprising outcome. As a result of that Grizzlies loss, ninth-place Memphis (33-33) is three games ahead of New Orleans (30-36). The teams face each other Monday in Tennessee; the Pelicans have already clinched the tiebreaker but would need to prevail in the season-series finale to maintain any realistic hope of catching the Grizzlies.
2) New Orleans only has six games remaining in its 72-game slate. Three of those will take place over the next four nights, starting with Friday’s 6 p.m. Central game at Philadelphia (45-21). Pregame coverage on Bally Sports and 100.3 FM begins at 5:30. Live-streaming coverage of Stan Van Gundy’s media availability will take place at approximately 4:30. Watch a SeatGeek hype video ahead of the next set of games.
3) New Orleans is 1.5 games behind San Antonio (31-34) for the final play-in spot in the West. Three hours after the Pelicans tip off in Pennsylvania, the Spurs have a road game against Sacramento (29-37), which is just a game behind New Orleans, but has lost the tiebreaker to the Pels. San Antonio also has a back-to-back Saturday in Portland.
4) Read Thursday’s injury report ahead of Pelicans-76ers.
5) The Pelicans need as many wins as possible on their five-game road trip. They also want to show many of the traits that result in teams getting those wins.