New Orleans Pelicans' Schedule Breakdown and Record Predictions for February
Near the end of January, the New Orleans Pelicans were finally able to string some wins together. February will provide them with a chance to do the same.
Last month was a weird one.
The Pelicans lost to the bottom-feeding Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks but beat the contending Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks.
Will Ferrell beaned a cheerleader in the head at halftime against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Starting point guard Jrue Holiday went down, yet the Pels rattled off a season-best four-game winning streak.
They beat their old superstar (Chris Paul) without their new superstar (Anthony Davis).
Again, weird.
New Orleans now stands at 25-22, two games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conferne.
Oddly, the team has gone 18-12 against much stauncher competition in the West—and 7-10 against the cotton-soft East. In February, eight of the Pelicans’ 11 games will come against Eastern Conference competition.
It’s time to overcome that unexplainable trend. If this is to become a postseason team, games against inferior opponents can’t be dropped.
Week 1: Feb. 1-7
1 of 5
Key Games: Wednesday, Feb. 4 vs. Oklahoma City Thunder and Friday, Feb. 6 at Thunder (8 p.m. ET)
Other opponents: Atlanta Hawks (2/2 on NBATV), Chicago Bulls (2/7 on NBATV)
This week could make or break the entire month.
Four straight against top-tier competition will be no easy task for New Orleans, but this stretch of games contains extra incentive.
The Pelicans need to at least split their back-to-back showdowns with the Thunder. OKC is currently just two games back of New Orleans and four behind the eighth-place Phoenix Suns.
A pair of losses in Week 1 would launch OKC closer to playoff contention—and sap some life out of New Orleans' barely-breathing hopes.
Unless the ‘Cans can take at least one from Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook’s crew, it could be the last time they sit above OKC in the standings.
In January, Atlanta became the first team to ever go 17-0 in a month. New Orleans will look to prohibit that record from entering February—and it wouldn’t be shocking to see it happen.
Tyreke Evans is likely to have success against Atlanta’s smaller guards. A big game from both he and Davis could spell trouble for the Hawks.
Chicago will be an interesting matchup, as the team has four legitimate big men as well as Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler.
Butler, a first-time All-Star this season, figures to go insane against the Pelicans, who are thin at shooting guard and small forward.
Weekly Record: 2-2
Week 2: Feb. 8-14
2 of 5
Key Game: Wednesday, Feb. 11 vs. Indiana Pacers (8 p.m. ET)
Other opponents: Utah Jazz (2/9)
After four contests against heavyweights in Week 1, this week holds just two games, and both against totally beatable opponents.
Utah did, however, give New Orleans some trouble at home on Dec. 16. If not for a 41-point explosion in the fourth quarter, the Jazz would’ve come out victorious. Instead, 31 from AD and 28 from Ryan Anderson propelled the Pels to a win.
"We know that we definitely needed that game, so we dug down deep in the fourth," Evans said after, per The Associated Press (h/t ESPN).
On Nov. 22, the Pelicans beat Utah 106-94 on the road. While the Jazz do have some young talent, there’s no reason to think that, in the midst of a playoff push, New Orleans should lose this game.
The highlighted matchup for this week is against the Pacers though, and for good reason. As mentioned on the intro slide, New Orleans does not play well against the East.
It’s inexplicable. The West is significantly more challenging, yet that’s where the team has experienced the most success.
“For some reason, we play our best against the good teams,” Evans said on Feb. 1, per Ted Lewis of The Advocate (Baton Rouge).
That’s great—but they can’t play their worst against bad teams.
The Pelicans need to start beating up on poor competition in the East. Their showdown with Indiana would be a good place to start.
Without Paul George, the Pacers have struggled mightily on the offensive end. They're averaging just 95 points per game, and no player is scoring more than 14 a night. New Orleans, ranked eighth in Offensive Rating, shouldn't have a problem outscoring Indy.
Weekly Record: 2-0
Week 3: Feb. 15-21
3 of 5
Key Game: Saturday, Feb. 21 at Miami Heat (7:30 p.m. ET)
Other opponents: at Orlando Magic (2/20)
Holiday will probably be back at this point (following the All-Star break), which will undoubtedly provide a huge boost to the Pelicans on both ends of the floor.
In Week 3, the team gets two more games against East teams, though they’re not cakewalks.
Miami isn’t nearly as formidable as it’s been in recent years—obviously—but Dwyane Wade’s team can still provide long nights for opponents.
The Heat are allowing just 95.9 points per game, tops in the entire league. A large part of that is due to the surprising rise of third-year center Hassan Whiteside.
The 25-year-old 7-footer has ascended to NBA stardom after years of irrelevance and D-League toils, but the combination of Davis, Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca will slow him down.
Here’s an interesting tidbit: In his lone season at Kentucky, Davis (183) broke Whiteside’s record (182) for freshman blocks in single season.
The other contest this week is against the Orlando Magic, which shouldn’t be close. But the Pels have been inconsistent all year. They’ll lose to a lottery-bound team and then beat a contender 24 hours later.
A zebra doesn’t change its stripes. Don’t be shocked if Orlando, behind forward Tobias Harris, squeaks past New Orleans.
Weekly Record: 1-1
Week 4: Feb. 22-28
4 of 5Key Game: Monday, Feb. 23 vs. Toronto Raptors (8 p.m. ET on NBATV)
Other opponents: Brooklyn Nets (2/25), Heat (2/27 on ESPN)
Finishing strong is important. Running the gauntlet and rounding out the month with three consecutive wins would be huge for the Pelicans, who could be in need of a boost in the W column.
Fortunately, February’s final games are against very manageable opponents. But consistency has been one of New Orleans’ biggest issues all year. Outside of their recent four-game winning streak, the Pelicans have strung together consecutive victories just four other times, and never more than two games.
Without Holiday and Davis, the Pelicans outlasted the Raptors on Jan. 18. It was a valiant effort without their top two guns, and it took a swooping layup from Evans in the final seconds to finish the job.
In Round 2 against Toronto, a full-strength Pelicans team should have no problem.
“This is who we are,” coach Monty Williams said after beating the Los Angeles Clippers on Jan. 30, via Lewis. “We never just show up. I’m sure not many people in this region thought we had a chance tonight, but we never approach a game that way. Everybody puts their shoes and shorts on like we do. So why not us?”
At their best, the Pelicans are a playoff-bound freight train. But their best only shows up half of the time, if that.
Perhaps the bright lights of national exposure will provide the spark needed to get them playing at a consistently high level.
In this short three-game span, the Pels will get two nationally televised appearances. Assuming the Brooklyn Nets continue to stumble and don't pull a screeching turnaround like last season, ending on a high note is a strong possibility.
Weekly Record: 2-1
Overview of February
5 of 5
Monthly Prediction: 7-4
Finishing February with seven wins would put New Orleans at 32-26. After spending the vast majority of the year glued to the .500 mark, reaching six games over that hump would be a victory.
Despite the inconsistency, the Pelicans have definitely showed a ton of toughness and resolve. They've won games without their starting point guard and best player. Guys like Evans and Eric Gordon have answered the call and taken on larger roles when needed.
Injuries destroy a lot of seasons, but not this one. Not yet, at least.
The Thunder are coming, though. Despite their recent struggles, a healthy OKC team will be tough to hold off the rest of the way, especially with Durant and Westbrook battling for that final playoff spot.
But a strong month, which contains two games against OKC, would at least keep New Orleans in play for the postseason.
And more than midway through the year, in an unbelievably tough conference, that's really all the team can ask for.
All stats are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and are accurate through Feb. 1.
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