Playoff Picture: New Orleans Pelicans
By Luke Duffy
The New Orleans Pelicans enter this year’s playoffs as one of the real feel good stories. They squeaked in as the No. 8 seed, beating out the Oklahoma City Thunder by virtue of owning the regular-season tiebreaker over them.
In Anthony Davis, this team has the next great NBA superstar, and it’s going to be great to see him play in the postseason for what should be the first of many playoff appearances. Indeed, his delight at simply making the playoffs only added to his appeal (skip to the five-minute mark of the video below).
Although this team may not be given much of a chance against the Golden State Warriors in round one, they’ll be playing with zero pressure and a growing star in Davis. The likes of Omer Asik and Ben Gordon can hurt opponents both in the paint and through some deadeye shooting as well. Head coach Monty Williams will feel somewhat vindicated, too.
He came under a lot of scrutiny throughout the year and was viewed by many as somebody who was holding this team back. That opinion will surely have changed.
For more on this year’s playoff picture, click below:
(West: Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, Portland Trail Blazers, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks)
(East: Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets)
Next: Only One Guy Leading This Team Forward