Pelicans

As New Orleans forward Larry Nance Jr. pointed out after Sunday’s 119-100 loss at the LA Clippers, the beauty of the NBA regular season is that there’s always another opportunity to make amends coming in the near future. The Pelicans did not achieve their goal of clinching a Western Conference play-in berth by winning for a fourth straight time in Crypto.com Arena this season, but they’ll get a second crack at wrapping up a spot Tuesday in Sacramento’s Golden 1 Center. With seven days left in the regular season, ninth-place New Orleans (34-44) still controls its own destiny not only in terms of qualifying for the play-in tournament, but also in earning homecourt advantage in the loser-gets-eliminated matchup between 9 and 10 seeds. The Pelicans are a game ahead of San Antonio (33-45); each team has four contests remaining.

Asked Sunday how much he’s tracking West play-in hopefuls San Antonio and the 11th-place Lakers (31-47), Nance indicated that he’s keeping an eye on them, but is not overly preoccupied beyond knowing basic details. Based on its lead over those clubs, New Orleans is in position to determine its own destiny simply by winning its four remaining games.

“I watch them, but in terms of paying them real attention, or them being on my mind, not at all,” Nance said of the Spurs and Lakers. “We still have four more games of our regular season. We play Sac in two days. So I’m worried about Sacramento. That’s a team perfectly capable of beating us on their homecourt.

“I watch the scores, check the box scores, just like I do with every team in the league. As of now, I’m not paying too much attention, but maybe once we officially clinch a play-in spot, then I’ll really start to hone in on it. But as of now, it’s a game-to-game basis.”

Players and coaches don’t have the luxury of looking forward too much as the regular season heads to a conclusion, but media members and fans do. With no games on the NBA’s schedule Monday night due to the NCAA championship game in New Orleans, it’s an ideal time to examine the outlook for the trio of teams still in contention for the two final West play-in spots:

Remaining schedule: Tuesday at Sacramento; Thursday vs. Portland; Saturday at Memphis; Sunday vs. Golden State

Schedule overview: An even mixture of two opponents eliminated from contention and two foes who are top-three in the West standings. However, Memphis will not have any incentive on paper Saturday, having long ago clinched a No. 2 seed. Third-place Golden State (50-29) could have something at stake Sunday in terms of seeding, as it relates to fourth-place Dallas (49-30, owns tiebreaker on Warriors). Finishing third instead of fourth means staying out of the same side of the bracket as top-seeded Phoenix, the only NBA team that will win 60-plus games this season.

Magic numbers: 1 to clinch a play-in berth; 4 to clinch ninth seed

Remaining schedule: Tuesday at Denver; Thursday at Minnesota; Saturday vs. Golden State; Sunday at Dallas

Schedule overview: Pretty daunting. Every opponent will finish in the top seven of the West – and is part of a seeding race that provides urgency and motivation to pick up wins. Denver (47-32) and Minnesota (45-34) are separated by only two games and still have a shot to avoid the play-in tournament or be a participant. Golden State and Dallas are just a game apart (see above) and very unlikely to have their standings battle settled before Saturday’s Warriors trip to AT&T Center.

Tiebreakers: Yes on Pelicans; yes on Lakers

Magic numbers: 2 to clinch a play-in berth; 5 to clinch ninth seed

Remaining schedule: Tuesday at Phoenix; Thursday at Golden State; Friday vs. Oklahoma City; Sunday at Denver

Schedule overview: Challenging. The first two games are on the road against teams that are a combined 61-18 at home. The Suns are locked into the No. 1 seed, but they’re trying to get Chris Paul back into the mix after the point guard was sidelined by an injury. Golden State is attempting to hold on to the No. 3 seed in the West, while Denver wants to avoid the play-in tournament. Against this backdrop of a schedule, the Lakers must go at least 3-1 in the four games to avoid being eliminated from play-in contention.

Magic numbers: 7 to clinch a play-in berth; 11 to clinch ninth seed (need to go 4-0, plus Pelicans go 0-4, plus Spurs go 1-3 or worse)

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Pelicans enter final week seeking play-in berth, homecourt edge in 9-10 game

If a few outcomes go New Orleans’ way over the next handful of days, the Pelicans could learn their Western Conference play-in seeding, opponent and schedule soon. However, if those details don’t crystallize before the weekend, it’s possible New Orleans (34-44) may need to wait until late in the 82-game regular season to find out all specifics. Very late.

The NBA has announced that the Pelicans’ home finale Sunday vs. Golden State will tip off at 8:30 p.m. in the Smoothie King Center. The late start – most New Orleans weekend home games begin at 5 or 6 p.m. – was necessitated so that the Pelicans will wrap up their season at roughly the same time as two other West play-in hopefuls, San Antonio (33-45) and the Lakers (31-47).

New Orleans’ game Saturday at Memphis had also been listed as a TBD tip time, but the NBA announced that the Southwest Division matchup will begin in Fed Ex Forum at 5 p.m. The Grizzlies have already locked up the West’s No. 2 seed.

Both final-weekend Pelicans games will be broadcast live by Bally Sports New Orleans and 100.3 FM. Saturday’s game is also slated to air nationally on NBA TV.

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NBA announces New Orleans tip-off times for weekend back-to-back at Grizzlies, vs. Warriors

The 77th game of New Orleans’ 82-game regular season schedule brought a playoff feel to it from the opening tip in Los Angeles, an atmosphere that traveled 1,900 miles east to multiple Friday watch parties in the Crescent City. At gatherings normally not seen until the NBA postseason, fans chanted “Beat LA!” and “Sweep LA!” – as well as perhaps a few Lakers-specific chants not suitable for a family website.

Around midnight, Pelicans fans were ecstatic to see their team ultimately pull off a dramatic, 114-111 victory over the Lakers, capping a 3-0 sweep of the season series. It was an outcome that meant several major positives for New Orleans (34-43), including 1) reducing its magic number to earn a Western Conference play-in berth to just two 2) inching closer to sealing the West’s No. 9 seed and the home game that comes with it 3) pushing the Lakers closer to the brink of elimination – a star-studded team picked by many at the start of 2021-22 to reach the NBA Finals.

For New Orleans hoops aficionados paying very close attention, Friday’s outcome also meant another potential bonus from NOLA getting out the broom head-to-head vs. the LeBron James- and Anthony Davis-led purple and gold. Based on a series of trades that date back to the 2019 blockbuster headlined by Davis and Brandon Ingram, the Pelicans will get the Lakers’ 2022 first-round pick if the selection places in the top 10 of the draft lottery. At the start of this season, any sane NBA analyst would’ve told you it was preposterous to believe Los Angeles might finish the campaign with one of the league’s 10 worst records, but through Friday’s games, only seven teams have a poorer mark than the 31-46 Lakers. So if the season ended today, Los Angeles would enter the May 17 draft lottery with a No. 8 pre-lottery slot, holding a 26.3 percent chance of winning a top-four pick (for the Pelicans) and 6.0 percent odds of bringing a No. 1 overall pick (to the Pelicans).

Of course, the season doesn’t end today. There are nine days of basketball remaining in the ’21-22 slate. For New Orleans to maintain the most optimal odds of seizing the Lakers’ draft pick (by the way, if it lands 11-30 of the first round, the pick conveys to Memphis), Los Angeles needs to remain in the No. 8 position. A pre-lottery slot of 8 would mean three teams (from pre-lotto spots 9 through 14 in the May 17 drawing) would have to leapfrog the Lakers in order to bump the pick out of the top 10. That’s highly unlikely, considering that if you add up the total odds of even one of those slots jumping into the top four at the lotto, it’s only 58 percent. If the Lakers finish with the No. 9 spot, it would then require a pair of teams to leapfrog them and prevent the Pelicans from taking the pick. It looks like a longshot at the moment, but Los Angeles could also foil the selection conveying by reaching the play-in tournament, then qualifying for the West playoffs, which would make it a non-lottery pick.

Entering Saturday’s games, here are the records of the clubs within striking distance of the Lakers, on both sides of the standings:

Pre-lottery slot No. 7 Sacramento 29-49 (could alter LAL's pre-lottery slot by going 2-2 or better in final four games)

No. 9 San Antonio 32-45 (own tiebreaker on LAL, essentially making it a two-game lead)

No. 10 New York 34-43 (can guarantee finishing with more wins than LAL by going 3-2 or better)

No. 11 Washington 34-43 (can guarantee finishing with more wins than LAL by going 3-2 or better)

In other words, over the final week of the season, New Orleans fans in scoreboard-watching mode will have several obvious rooting interests, including pulling for the Lakers to continue losing, which would guarantee a Pelicans play-in tournament trip (the Pels probably won’t need the help at this rate, but we digress). But in terms of the status of L.A.’s first-round pick conveying to New Orleans, you also can keep an eye on a few East outcomes you may not have anticipated, such as New York’s Saturday home game vs. Cleveland, or Washington’s three-game road trip to Boston, Minnesota and Atlanta. There’s certainly been plenty of good news lately for New Orleans professional basketball, but there could be more on the way during next month’s NBA draft lottery – in the form of a first-round pick no one could’ve expected when the ’21-22 season began.

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Pelicans 3-0 sweep of Lakers could yield a big bonus, in the form of 2022 lottery pick

Todd Graffagnini sits down with Pelicans GM Trajan Langdon to talk about his Duke Blue Devils playing in the Final Four + Erin Summers catches up with Devonte Graham to talk about his Kansas JayHawks heading down to New Orleans.

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Trajan Langdon and Devonte Graham on Pelicans Weekly - March 31, 2022

A popular slogan among locals in Oregon’s largest city is “Keep Portland Weird,” an expression that promotes some of the eccentricities of the place, which is located in the northwestern part of the state (and America).

“Weird” is also how New Orleans guard CJ McCollum described his experience several times Wednesday, as he prepared to play against the Portland Trail Blazers for the first time. A member of the Blazers from the 2013 draft until a Feb. 8 trade to the Crescent City, the 30-year-old wasn’t used to seeing the Moda Center from a different vantage point.

“It’s been weird,” McCollum said after Wednesday’s shootaround. “It’s been a weird few hours. Coming back I had never been in the visitor’s locker room before. That was unique. My (New Orleans) teammates just made it more weird, saying (humorous) stuff (about his return). But it’s cool. It’s part of the game. I’m looking forward to getting through the game.”

McCollum was in constant contact with Portland management prior to the trade that sent him to the Pelicans, which is why he has only positive feelings toward the Trail Blazers and their organization. New Orleans was a place he looked at as a favorable possible destination, as Portland sorted through options on where to send McCollum.

“I like to call it a happy break-up, where you’re not bitter at your ex,” he said. “I’m in a happy situation, where I’m able to help a team and play a unique role. It’s probably what we envisioned. We felt this could be good for all parties. There was no need for it to go south or go sour, after the relationship we had built.”

Many of McCollum’s former Portland teammates are currently sidelined by injuries, meaning he won’t get to compete against them Wednesday, a disappointment.

“Not as fun,” McCollum said of that aspect of Wednesday’s game. “It won’t be as fun. But they’ll be back (on the court) eventually.”

Much more enjoyable has been McCollum’s seven weeks with New Orleans, where he’s quickly adjusted both on and off the court.

“It’s exactly how I thought it would be,” he said. “It was a team I kind of zeroed in on, and they obviously zeroed in on (acquiring) me. I knew what I signed up for and what I was going to be asked to do, and I’m doing it. They held up their end of the bargain as well. I’m happy to be in this situation.

“Basketball has been great. It’s been an easy transition.”

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CJ McCollum calls return to Portland as visiting player ‘weird’ in several aspects

1)      Thursday night, New Orleans (31-42) followed up a near-perfect road trip (2-1, capped by a narrow loss at Charlotte) with one of its best home wins of 2021-22 after defeating the Chicago Bulls in a 126-109 intereconfrence matchup. This win now moves the team into ninth place in the Western Conference, with the Lakers dropping back to 10th.

2)      In an effort to support the ongoing response to the Tuesday's tornadoes in St. Bernard Parish, the Lower Ninth Ward, and the greater New Orleans area, the New Orleans Pelicans and Saints teamed up with Second Harvest Food Bank and WDSU to host a donation drive for those affected by the storm. Several large donation bins placed will be placed outside the Ochsner Sports Performance Center at 5800 Airline Drive in Metairie starting on Friday, March 25 at 6:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m.

3)      Pelicans radio announcer, Todd Graffagnini, sat down with Bulls radio announcer, Chuck Swirsky, in Thursday's Pelicans Weekly Show. Pelicans Reporter, Erin Summers, also joined the show as goes "Off the Court" with Trey Murphy.

4)      Head coach Willie Green, along with Pelicans guards Jose Alvarado, Devonte' Graham and forward Larry Nance Jr. met with the media following Thursday's win against the Bulls.

5)      This weekend, the Pelicans will see action in two crucial back-to-back matchups against Western Condference opponents. On Saturday, March 26, the team will host the San Antonio Spurs (29-44) who they currently have a two game lead over. Sunday, the Pelicans host the Los Angeles Lakers (31-42). Tickets for Saturday's game are still available here.  

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Five things to know about the Pelicans on March 25, 2022

Todd Graffagnini sits down with Bulls radio announcer Chuck Swirsky & Erin Summers goes "Off the Court" with Trey Murphy.

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Chuck Swirsky on Pelicans Weekly - March 24, 2022

1)      Ninth place is a win away Thursday, when New Orleans (30-42) hosts Chicago (42-30) at 7 p.m. Tickets are available here.

2)      Wednesday’s key results around the Western Conference included a home loss by the Lakers (31-42) to Philadelphia, while No. 11 San Antonio (29-44) won handily over No. 12 Portland (27-45). That brings the Pelicans within a half-game of the Lakers, who do not play again until their Sunday visit to the Crescent City.

3)      Read the Bulls-Pelicans injury report, featuring an update on Larry Nance Jr.

4)      Read Wednesday’s practice report.

5)      Tune in to the “Pelicans Weekly” radio show at 6 p.m. on 100.3 FM. Chicago radio broadcaster Chuck Swirsky is the featured guest.

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Five things to know about the Pelicans on March 24, 2022

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