New Orleans Pelicans: 3 reasons the season is over

The New Orleans Pelicans were no match for the defending champions, as they were soundly defeated in five games at the hands of the Golden State Warriors.

The New Orleans Pelicans weren’t able to translate their first round success into the Western Conference semifinals, losing to the Golden State Warriors in five games by an average of 15.5 points.

Heading into the 2018 NBA Playoffs, New Orleans was in an interesting position. As the sixth seed, the team earned a matchup with the third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers.

This wasn’t an ordinary 3-6 matchup, though, as Portland had only one more win over the course of the 82-game season, giving some the idea that an “upset” was a possibility for the Pelicans.

Not only did New Orleans pull off the upset, it put the league on notice, sweeping the Blazers and earning the right to face the Warriors in the second round.

Despite their impressive postseason run, the Pelicans were no match for Golden State, as the talent disparity was simply too large for them to overcome, especially without All-Star big-man DeMarcus Cousins.

Anthony Davis finished off his second postseason run with averages of 27.8 points, 14.8 rebounds, 2.2 steals and 2.2 blocks in the five games. Jrue Holiday wrapped up his breakout playoff campaign with numbers of 20.4 points, 7.0 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game.

Considering everything that happened for the Pelicans throughout the year, they should look back on the 2017-18 season as a huge success. They simply ran into a buzzsaw that’s looking to make its fourth consecutive trip to the NBA Finals.