The Pels are currently 40-38 and 8th in the Western Conference as they enter the final week of the regular season.
NEW ORLEANS — Just a few weeks ago, it looked like the New Orleans Pelicans would not be playing postseason basketball. Now they are just one win away from securing a place in the Play-In tournament.
The Pels are currently 40-38 and 8th in the Western Conference as they enter the final week of the regular season. They’re 7-3 in their last ten games and it’s the first time they’ve been two games over .500 since Feb. 13.
Brandon Ingram has played some of the best basketball games of his career at this stretch. He had two triple-doubles and averaged 29.5 points, 8 assists and 6 rebounds in his last ten games.
“BI, you’re playing like the best player in the league right now,” said head coach Willie Green after Saturday’s win against the Clippers.
Their playoff push continues Tuesday night at the Smoothie King Center when the team kicks off a three-game homestand with the Sacramento Kings. They will play the Memphis Grizzlies the following night, and their final home game of the regular season is Friday night against the New York Knicks. The Pels end the season away against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
A win gets at least the 10th seed, but with an unbeaten week they could climb to the 5th seed. A 3-1 week could potentially bring them the fifth seed as well.
The Pels battle for the 5th and 6th seeds with the LA Clippers, Golden State Warriors and LA Lakers. Right now, they’re only half a game behind the Clippers and Warriors. The Pelicans only own the tiebreaker over the Clippers.
THE WESTERN CONFERENCE RACE IS ????
Just 0.5 GAMES separate the Clippers, Warriors, Lakers and Pelicans in crucial 5th-8th places while 5 other teams lurk just above or below them!
Complete ranking ???? pic.twitter.com/qf8oD27s25
– NBA (@NBA) April 3, 2023
Here’s who the Pelicans could potentially play if they avoided the Play-In tournament:
- 5th seed, they would play the 4th seed Phoenix Suns
- 6th seed they would play against the 3rd Sacramento Kings
If the Pelicans cannot advance higher than 7th place overall, they will enter the Play-In tournament for the second straight season.
This is how the play-in tournament works:
The 7th seed plays against the 8th seed and the 9th seed plays against the 10th seed. The winner of the 7-8 game gets the 7th seed, while the loser plays the winner of the 9-10 game for the 8th seed.
So if the season ended today, the Pelicans would play the Los Angles Lakers for seventh place in LA. If the Pelicans won this game, they would win 7th place, but if they lost, they would receive the Minnesota Timberwolves/Oklahoma City Thunder winner for 8th place.
The play-in tournament is scheduled to start on Tuesday April 11th and end on Friday April 14th.
Injury Report:
We could learn if Zion Williamson will return to the pitch in a few days this season. Williamson is reportedly set to be re-evaluated on Wednesday. He was spotted training in Denver before the game last week. ESPN NBA reporter Andrew Lopez tweeted video of the star forward ending his practice session with a dunk.
Zion just ended his practice with a dunk. pic.twitter.com/8VHTyuNnIV
—Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) March 31, 2023
Williamson had a strong start to the 2022-2023 season, averaging 26 points, 7 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game. But due to his injury, he has only played 29 games this season.
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