A monumental four-game homestand for New Orleans (31-34, 10th in Western Conference) will likely factor significantly in the ultimate postseason fate of the Pelicans. Read more about the consequential nature of the next week in the Smoothie King Center, partly based on the specific four opponents.
New Orleans tips off this multi-week stretch of games exclusively in the Gulf South region by hosting Dallas on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. Please note, start time is a half-hour earlier than normal due to ESPN carrying the game to launch its national mid-week doubleheader. Bally Sports New Orleans is also televising, with pregame coverage at 6. Radio coverage of Mavs-Pels is on WRNO 99.5 FM and KGLA 105.7 FM, the latter the team’s Spanish broadcast for all remaining home games.
Read Tuesday’s injury report, which features the return of a New Orleans rotation member.
The races for the Western Conference postseason and potential play-in tournament slots are so tight that the Pelicans went from ninth place (entering Monday’s game at Sacramento) to No. 12 (after losing to the Kings), then back to No. 10 (after Tuesday’s Utah loss in Dallas) in a span of less than 48 hours. Wednesday is slightly quieter in terms of other relevant West teams being in action, but current No. 12 Portland (at Boston) and No. 11 Oklahoma City (at Phoenix) are both facing quality opponents on the road.
On Western Conference Wednesday, if the season ended this morning New Orleans (ranked No. 18 in NBA.com’s weekly power rankings, while 17th by The Athletic) would face the Lakers (32-34) in the 9-10 play-in matchup at Crypto.com Arena. The Pelicans likely need to win Wednesday vs. the Mavs to remain in the top 10 for the moment, partly because a loss would drop them back into a tie with No. 13 Utah (31-35, next game Thursday at Orlando). The Jazz swept the season series over the Pels 3-0, making them a team to avoid in any multi-team tiebreaking scenario.