New Orleans Pelicans: Tough Stretch Lies Ahead
By Owen Sanborn
Sitting with a 12-12 record, the New Orleans Pelicans have sole possession of the eighth seed in the Western Conference — no small feat by any means.
But with the Oklahoma City Thunder coming full speed ahead and the rest of the Western Conference powers plugging away at the top, there is minimal chance that the Pelicans will be able to hold their playoff spot for long.
A crucial 10 game stretch lurks ahead for New Orleans as they will get the opportunity to go head to head against some of the West’s elite. Thursday night, they will be in Houston, going against a Rockets team that has scrapped their way to an astounding 19-5 record despite being without Dwight Howard for a large chunk of the young season.
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The next nine games include matchups with the Portland Trail Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards. The two matchups with the Thunder and Suns are particularly important because the Pelicans hold a narrow edge over those teams currently in the standings.
The Thunder and Spurs will both be out for blood as New Orleans was able to squeak out narrow victories against both opponents earlier this season.
The Thunder are a team that nobody looks forward to playing right now as they have their sights set on digging themselves out of the hole that was created for them because of injuries to their two marquee stars.
As I recently pointed out, the Pelicans have struggled against teams with a record greater than .500 thus far, which has contributed to their somewhat inconsistent start to the season.
For the most part, New Orleans hangs tough in games against the big boys (spare that blow out loss on national TV against Golden State), but they always seem to fall short in the end because of a lack of late game execution.
These are normal growing pains for a young team to go through, as winning in the NBA is no overnight process. As time goes on, the Pelicans will find their way and start learning what little things have to be done in order to turn a gut-wrenching loss into a hard fought W.
Pundits and fans in today’s sports media landscape want everything to happen so suddenly. Young players can ascend to superstardom with only minimal accomplishments (see Manziel, Johnny) and teams can have an avalanche of expectations thrown on them when they aren’t quite ready for it.
Expecting New Orleans to contend for a playoff spot in perhaps the toughest conference in NBA history might have been a bit unrealistic.
I know Anthony Davis sometimes seems like something out of Star Wars, but even he cannot win a game all by himself when his counterparts (Western Conference foes) have been there and done that.
The Pelicans are fighting more than expectations or youth; they are unfortunately pinned up against opponents that have the advantage of continuity and playoff fortitude.
Sometimes it simply is not your time to crash the playoff party.
These next 10 games are going to go a long way towards the Pelicans proclaiming themselves as a legit playoff contender or merely a young team that is a year or two away.
I for one cannot wait to see how they respond.