With the NBA’s easiest schedule on paper during the post-All-Star portion of the season, New Orleans’ playoff chances will at least partly be contingent upon how the Pelicans fare against struggling opponents. Among numerous encouraging signs lately, New Orleans is showing a knack for not only beating those kinds of teams, but dominating them. On Friday, the Pelicans won for the 13th time in their last 14 games against teams currently under .500, with the vast majority of those wins by double-digit margins.
New Orleans built a 23-point lead over the Central Division’s last-place team and withstood a brief Cleveland second-half push, improving to 20-11 since Dec. 18 overall. The Pelicans’ remaining slate may be less taxing than most teams on paper, but their upcoming docket is actually pretty difficult – Sunday’s home game vs. the Lakers begins a stretch of three out of four games against postseason locks (Dallas and Miami on Wednesday and Friday).
“Yes, this is everything I envisioned,” Williamson said. “Making a push for the playoffs, the energy from the crowd. You've just got to shout out the city for that. People always show love. They could probably be doing something else, but they take the time to come to the game, so you’ve got to thank them for that. So yeah, when I sat down with Griff, this is what we envisioned.”
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Nicolo Melli lofted up a floater in the middle of the lane from a relatively deep distance, banking it in for a 113-91 lead with roughly five minutes remaining. Prior to that, Zion Williamson rumbled to a layup in the lane, his fifth dunk or layup of the second half. The Pelicans were up 18 through one quarter and led 70-55 at halftime.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Call it a tie between Williamson and Brandon Ingram, a duo that for the second straight game was extremely difficult to slow down on the offensive end. After they combined to tally 63 points against the Lakers on Tuesday, this time the starting forwards went for 53 points. Ingram (29 points) shot 11/19 from the floor, while Williamson was 11/16.
BY THE NUMBERS
43: New Orleans first-quarter points, setting the tone for a convincing victory. The Pelicans racked up 15 fast-break points in that period.
36: New Orleans assists, the sixth consecutive game it has dished out 30-plus dimes.
10: Points off the bench for both Nicolo Melli and E’Twaun Moore, in another valuable outing by the reserve group.
#FANFRIDAY
With six teams in pursuit of the final playoff berth in the Western Conference, scoreboard-watching has become a near nightly pursuit for New Orleans fans, who have a rooting interest in numerous games involving clubs such as Memphis, Portland, San Antonio, Sacramento and Phoenix. Friday’s poll question was “Aside from the Grizzlies and Pelicans, which team do you think is most dangerous to claim the coveted No. 8 seed and why?” The winner by a significant margin was the Trail Blazers, who earned over 50 percent of the votes and entered Friday in a virtual tie with the Pelicans. The Spurs also picked up about one-third of the votes, while the Kings were third at just over 10 percent. Here are some of the top comments about three of the teams:
PORTLAND
From @GoatedZo2: Gotta be Portland given their strength of schedule and if Dame comes back soon
From @BigFella122: Always Portland, no matter who Dame has around him, they always manage to get in the playoffs
SAN ANTONIO
From @NgCheeWei5: The Spurs are the most dangerous opponent for Pelicans, because of their experience and facing them twice in the last six games. If the race is still tight, experience > talent
From @Andy_Russell87: Pop always scares me…
SACRAMENTO From @baraho: Sleeping on the Kangz