2017-18 schedule

Pelicans.com

The NBA schedule is finally out! Listen to what Sean Kelley and David Wesley have to say regarding the Pelicans' chances.

For the third straight year the Pelicans will face the Golden State Warriors in the first week of the season. Kelley and Wesley discuss how the Pelicans' roster and style of play matchup against the Warriors.

They also talk about the importance of a strong start for the Pelicans, who've come out of the gates slowly the past couple of seasons to their own post-season detriment.

Check out the entire show below in 3 Parts.

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Sean Kelley & David Wesley Discuss the Pelicans' 2017-18 Schedule

Jim Eichenhofer

The New Orleans Pelicans’ first home game of the 2017-18 regular season will be televised to a nationwide audience. That’s also the case for DeMarcus Cousins’ first game back in his former NBA home.

An Oct. 20 home opener vs. Golden State and an Oct. 26 visit to Sacramento are among the highlights of New Orleans’ eight-game national TV slate, split between ESPN (6) and TNT (2). The eight broadcasts are an increase from the club’s 2016-17 schedule, on which the Pelicans were allocated five such games.

Here is the list of New Orleans games that will be available to fans across the country, via two of the NBA’s network partners:

Every NBA team wants to start quickly when the regular season begins, but based on recent history, that goal is an even higher priority for New Orleans. The Pelicans started 0-6 and 0-8, respectively, at the outset of the previous two campaigns, digging a hole they were never able to overcome, en route to missing the playoffs.

If the Pelicans are to reverse a recent negative trend in 2017-18, it will not be easy, at least on paper. Not only does New Orleans open the 82-game docket with eight road games out of its first dozen total contests, but among the four home games are dates vs. defending conference champions Golden State and Cleveland. The group of road opponents during that early-season stretch includes five teams that reached the NBA playoffs in the spring (though postseason qualifiers Chicago and Indiana vastly changed direction in the offseason).

Partly due to various scheduling conflicts in the neighboring Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the Pelicans’ regular season docket is almost always back-loaded with home games. The ’17-18 schedule is no different, with New Orleans playing 15 of its final 26 games in the Smoothie King Center.

The NBA has made numerous efforts in recent years to reduce wear and tear caused by the schedule, with the most prominent change coming from moving up the start of the regular season by one week. As a result, the league was able to slice two back-to-backs off New Orleans’ docket in comparison to the ’16-17 season. The Pelicans played a total of 17 back-to-backs last season, but that number is down to 13 this time. In addition, based on the fact that New Orleans has a pair of weekend back-to-backs in the Smoothie King Center, its number of back-to-backs that include travel is just 11.

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Pelicans national TV games include six on ESPN, two on TNT

In conjunction with Monday’s official release of the 2017-18 NBA schedule, it’s time for Pelicans fans to get out their calendars and start jotting down a few important dates. While Pelicans.com recommends watching all 82 games, the following is a list of 20 games that are “can’t miss” in 2017-18:

The earliest regular season game in New Orleans franchise history (the previous was Oct. 26, set in 2016) will take place at the FedEx Forum against the division rival Grizzlies. Based on recent power rankings, head-to-head games vs. Memphis could be important as New Orleans tries to climb the Western Conference standings. NBA.com recently ranked the Pelicans 16th, just ahead of No. 17 Portland and No. 18 Memphis.

For some reason, the NBA schedule-maker loves to pit the Pelicans against the Warriors early in the slate each year. In 2015, the Pelicans were the visitors on the night when Golden State held their championship-ring ceremony. In 2016, the Warriors were also guests in the Smoothie King Center for the Pelicans’ second game of the 82-game schedule.

The Pelicans begin a three-game West Coast trip in Staples Center, facing much-hyped and discussed rookie guard Lonzo Ball, who at this stage will be less than a week into his official NBA career. Los Angeles figures to be an improved club, having added veterans Brook Lopez and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope from East teams.

While on a Basketball Without Borders trip to South Africa, DeMarcus Cousins told ESPN’s Marc Spears that he hoped New Orleans would open the regular season at Sacramento, where Cousins played the first 6 1/2 years of his NBA career. Cousins will have to “settle” for playing in front of many friendly faces at Golden 1 Center in the Pelicans’ fifth game.

New Orleans plays just two home games out of its first six contests overall – and both are against defending conference champions. Eight days after facing hosting NBA titlist Golden State in the Smoothie King Center, three-time East champ Cleveland and LeBron James will pay a visit. The Pelicans pulled off a home upset over the Cavaliers last season, despite Anthony Davis being sidelined.

The Timberwolves enjoyed one of the NBA’s best offseasons (ranked the sixth-best summer by NBA.com’s David Aldridge), adding veteran reinforcements Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson and Jamal Crawford. Minnesota-New Orleans already had the makings of a budding rivalry, with multiple No. 1 overall draft picks and rising stars on the floor, including Davis and the Wolves’ duo of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins.

New Orleans’ new starting point guard, Rajon Rondo, makes an early-season visit to the United Center, facing his previous NBA team and many of the young Bulls players he helped mentor during the ’16-17 season. Chicago has almost completely revamped its roster, a push that began with the trade of Butler to Minnesota on draft night.

With an offense revolving around the high-post passing brilliance of center Nikola Jokic, the Nuggets created the model for a portion of how the Pelicans and Cousins will attack defenses at times this season. Jokic – a candidate to make his first All-Star appearance in February – will have his hands full combating the All-Star duo of Cousins and Davis in the paint and on the backboards.

The Thunder’s star tandem of longtime franchise stalwart Russell Westbrook and trade acquisition Paul George will face off against the Pelicans for the first time in ’17-18, the only early-season matchup between the West squads. Closer to the basket, Davis and Cousins will match up against OKC’s “Stache Brothers” of Steven Adams and Enes Kanter.

Is “The Process” finally ready to yield tangible results, perhaps even a playoff berth? The 76ers hope so, headlined by the recent lottery trio of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz. The latter two Philadelphia youngsters combine with the Pelicans’ Davis to make three recent No. 1 overall draftees in the same game. The 76ers also added experience in the offseason by signing J.J. Redick and Amir Johnson.

The Pelicans don’t play on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day or Martin Luther King Jr. Day this season, so the closest they’ll come to a “holiday” home game is this tilt against the Knicks. Kristaps Porzingis and Davis are a pair of rangy, athletic forwards who are also exceptionally skilled, often making this a fun matchup. Davis racked up 40 points and 18 rebounds at New York last season.

Rondo makes his only visit of the season to TD Garden, where in 2008 he piloted the Celtics to an NBA championship as their starting point guard, part of a star-studded lineup that included Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Rondo went 2-0 in the playoffs this spring at Boston, leading the eighth-seeded Bulls to a surprising series lead, before a broken thumb ended Rondo’s season and helped turn the momentum in Boston’s favor.

Already one of the NBA’s most potent offensive teams, the Rockets added firepower this summer by acquiring Chris Paul from the Clippers, in exchange for a large package of role players. Paul joins last season’s MVP runner-up, James Harden, to form an explosive backcourt. This is the first of Houston’s two visits to the Smoothie King Center, with the latter taking place on St. Patrick’s Day.

If most national preseason predictions are accurate, these two teams could be vying for footing in the same echelon of the West standings. Seven days prior to Super Bowl Sunday, the frontcourt battles should be very entertaining when Davis and Cousins go up against the Clips’ combo of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.

New Orleans will visit the Pistons in downtown Detroit for the first time, at brand-new Little Caesars Arena (Michigan’s NBA franchise had played in the city’s suburbs since the late 1980s). Davis may be sad to see the Palace of Auburn Hills go as an NBA venue, because the best scoring game of his career took place there (59 points against the Pistons on Feb. 21, 2016).

This is actually the second matchup of the season between the Pelicans and Bucks (the first is Dec. 13 in New Orleans), but this meeting is a bit more noteworthy, as the final time New Orleans will play in the Bradley Center. Milwaukee is opening a brand-new arena in 2018-19 that is currently under construction next door. Regardless of location, Pelicans-Bucks is always a captivating watch due to the presence of athletic marvels Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

New Orleans won’t play on the Clippers’ home floor until this early-March meeting at Staples Center, but both of its two visits are scheduled for national TV. The Pelicans also face the Clippers in Los Angeles on April 9, a game that will be broadcast by ESPN.

New Orleans hosts one of the premier teams from the East, starting a stretch that could be critical for the home team. From March 9-22, the Pelicans play seven of eight games in their arena, one of the most home-friendly stretches for them all season. Other ’17 playoff teams to visit NOLA during this span are Utah, Houston and Boston.

Pelicans appearances on national TV are very back-loaded in ’17-18, with three of their final seven games carried by ESPN (after five of the team’s first 75 games are on ESPN or TNT). Five days after playing at Cleveland on ESPN (March 30), this will be the head-to-head finale between these Southwest Division squads.

In the Pelicans’ home finale at the Smoothie King Center, they will host the Spurs in Game 82. That’s a repeat of the scheduling scenario that closed out the 2014-15 regular season, when New Orleans posted arguably the most memorable regular-season win in team history, defeating San Antonio to qualify for the final playoff berth in the West.

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Twenty New Orleans Pelicans games to watch in 2017-18

Twelve players were members of the 2017 Western Conference All-Star team, which outlasted the East squad 192-182 in February. Six of those well-known basketball names will be on the Smoothie King Center hardwood Oct. 20, in an extremely star-studded home contest for the New Orleans Pelicans.

This evening the NBA announced its slate of marquee games for the opening week of the 2017-18 regular season, including a meeting between defending NBA champion Golden State and New Orleans. The game will take place Friday, Oct. 20, and will be broadcast nationally by ESPN. Tip-off for Warriors-Pelicans will be at 8:30 p.m. Central.

Joining perennial New Orleans All-Star bigs Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins will be Golden State’s quartet of All-Star performers. That group includes Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant – who combined to win three consecutive league MVP trophies from 2014 to 2016 – as well as Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.

Although Golden State went 4-0 vs. New Orleans in ’16-17, the Warriors have not yet faced the Pelicans with Cousins in uniform. Three of those Warriors victories last season came prior to a midseason trade involving Cousins, while the fourth occurred in April, after Cousins and Davis had been kept out of the lineup for precautionary health reasons.

The full NBA schedule for 2017-18 is expected to be released next week. Adam Silver recently announced that the regular season for the league overall will begin Tuesday, Oct. 17. It is the earliest the NBA regular season has begun since the 1980-81 campaign, partly to increase rest for players and reduce the number of back-to-backs each team will play.

The league also announced the five-game Christmas slate, which features Philadelphia-New York; Cleveland-Golden State; Washington-Boston; Houston-Oklahoma City; and Minnesota-L.A. Lakers.

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Oct. 20 ESPN game between Pelicans and Warriors to feature half of 2017 West All-Star team

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2017‑18 schedule

Sean Kelley & David Wesley Discuss the Pelicans' 2017-18 Schedule

Pelicans national TV games include six on ESPN, two on TNT

Twenty New Orleans Pelicans games to watch in 2017-18

Oct. 20 ESPN game between Pelicans and Warriors to feature half of 2017 West All-Star team