Power Rankings (1 Viewer)

[Dago]

1) NBA.com: 9th https://www.nba.com/news/power-rankings-2023-24-week-11
Last Week:13↑
Record: 19-14
OffRtg: 115.4 (15) DefRtg: 112.1 (8) NetRtg: +3.3 (8) Pace: 100.3 (11)
The Pelicans haven’t lost by more than two points since they got clobbered by the Lakers in the In-Season Tournament semifinals, and they exacted some revenge on Sunday, beating the Lakers by 20.
Three takeaways

• The Pelicans have had some clutch problems. With their overtime loss to the Grizzlies on Tuesday, they had lost six of their last seven games that were within five points in the last five minutes, with issues on both ends of the floor. The late-game offense against Memphis was pretty ugly, with the Pelicans just hoping Brandon Ingram could bail them out of some possessions where there was little ball or player movement. They also allowed 80 points on 62 clutch defensive possessions (1.29 per) over that 1-6 stretch.
• They’ve led 27 of their 33 games by double-digits, with that 27 being tied (with the Celtics) for the league lead. But with their second-half and clutch issues, they’ve lost eight of those 27. They lost an 11-point lead to the Jazz on Thursday, but then scored 13 points on six clutch possessions, with Ingram and Trey Murphy III hitting big 3s down the stretch. (Both saved more ugly possessions.)
• Ingram seems to have realized that he can use his length on defense, blocking twice as many shots in his last four games (10) as he had in his previous 26 (5). It may not be a coincidence that it’s been the Pels’ best four-game stretch of defense (107.4 points allowed per 100 possessions) since Thanksgiving.

The Pelicans have the league’s toughest January schedule regarding cumulative opponent winning percentage, and they’re also the only team without a rest-advantage game this month. They’ll be at a disadvantage in Minnesota on Wednesday, having lost two of their first three games against the Wolves.
Jan. 2-7: vs. BKN, @ MIN, vs. LAC, @ SAC

2) NBC: 8th https://www.nbcsports.com/nba/news/...kings-everyone-looking-up-at-new-no-1-thunder
Since getting smacked around by the Lakers in Las Vegas during the In-Season Tournament, the Pelicans have responded by going 8-3 and have a league-best +13.4 net rating in those 11. New Orleans exacted some revenge on Los Angeles last week beating them by 20 with Zion Williamson — who took a lot of heat for his IST performance — scoring 26 with six assists, and that was the second game last week where he, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum each score more than 20. The Pelicans have 6-of-7 coming up on the road as they have a brutal January schedule (and their one home game in this stretch is the Clippers).

3) SI.com: 10th https://www.si.com/nba/2024/01/02/n...gid=ci02d273edd00025ed&pid=9-sacramento-kings
A team with so many good isolation players—Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum— should be efficient in the clutch. The Pelicans aren’t, ranking 25th in the NBA in clutch time offensive rating. That cost them two winnable games against Memphis and is something New Orleans is focused on cleaning up. Said McCollum: “We are putting the ball in our best players’ hands. It’s just about making sure the spacing is right.”

4) Fansided 8th: https://fansided.com/posts/nba-power-rankings-thunder-pacers-bulls-biggest-risers
Zion Williamson is not a world-beater but he's more than enough when the supporting cast is this good. CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram are shooting lights-out right now, Trey Murphy and Herb Jones are taking the leap and the have a deep roster of veteran specialists and youthful generalists ready to fill in the gaps.

 

[Dago]

The SI.com writeup is obviously the best and it's nice to see a national publication talk about our ridiculously hard schedule. If we come out of January a few games over .500 (for the month, not overall) it will be quite an accomplishment.

 

[LAhotsauce]

I really hope they beat the Clippers again. The Lakers are fizzing out so they are so quick to anoint the other LA team.

 

[Dago]

I really hope they beat the Clippers again. The Lakers are fizzing out so they are so quick to anoint the other LA team.

Going 14-3 since the end of November will do that

Granted, their schedule has been far easier than ours, but they have beaten Golden State (twice), Sacramento (twice), Denver, Memphis (with Morant), Dallas, and Miami in that stretch. Their 3 losses are Golden State, OKC, and Boston.

Meanwhile we are 9-3 since our loss to the Lakers with our 3 losses by a combined 5 points. However, this was also pretty much our easiest stretch of the season with only the two wins against the TWolves really standing out

This game against the Clips should give us an idea of how good we are really playing right now...gotta get out there and make those old guys run!

 

[Dago]

How I feel when I am trying to hit the Pelicans tab and accidentally hit the Politics one

 

[Dago]

Week 12 Rankings:

NBA.com:
#6 NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
Last Week: 9↑
Record: 22-15
OffRtg: 116.0 (13) DefRtg: 111.6 (6) NetRtg: +4.4 (8) Pace: 99.6 (16)
The Pelicans had a rough night inside the arc on Friday, losing to the Clippers in what was their worst offensive game in more than four weeks. But they’ve shot an incredible 45.3% from 3-point range as they’ve won five of their last six.
Three takeaways

• The 45.3% over the last six games is the third-best six-game 3-point shooting stretch for any team this season, topped only by two stretches from the Thunder. It’s taken the Pels from 16th (36.4%) to sixth (37.9%) in 3-point percentage for the season. They still rank just 27th in 3-point rate (35.4%) and 25th in 3-point differential, having been outscored by 4.3 points per game from beyond the arc.
• CJ McCollum has led the way, making more 3s (29-for-54, 54%) than any three of his teammates over the six games. His 45.3% for the season is a career-best mark and ranks sixth among 90 players with at least 150 3-point attempts. He’s the only player who’s shot 50% or better on at least 50 pull-up 2-pointers and 40% or better on at least 50 pull-up 3s.
• The 5-1 stretch includes wins over Minnesota (the Wolves’ second home loss of the season) and Sacramento. The Pels have the most wins, the third-best record (10-7) and the best point differential (plus-4.5 per game) in games played between the nine Western Conference teams that currently have winning records. That point differential is helped by wins of 36 and 33 points over the Kings, and the Pels are now 4-0 in the season series, with one more game to play in the final week of the season.

The Pels will play three more games against that over-.500 group in the West on the five-game trip that began with their win in Sacramento on Sunday. They will be at a rest disadvantage (coming from Denver!) for the first of two straight games in Dallas, having split a two-game series with the Mavs in November.
Week 12: @ GSW, @ DEN, @ DAL

NBC: 8. New Orleans Pelicans (22-15, LW 8). Finally healthy, the Pelicans have been playing some of their best basketball over the past couple of weeks, going 5-1 in their last six with a +14.5 net rating, which is the best in the league. They have done it on both ends, with the second-ranked defense in the league over those six games, while on offense CJ McCollum has found his stroke and in his last five games is shooting 56.8% from three and averaging 20.8 points a game. The Pelicans continue their road swing through the West this week with games against the Warriors, Nuggets, then two in Dallas.

SI.com 6th Last week: 10

It’s stretches like this—five wins in the last six, with its lone loss coming against the white-hot Clippers—that make you want to believe in the Pelicans. CJ McCollum is in the middle of a brilliant stretch, and New Orleans is up to sixth in defensive efficiency. Helps when you have wing players like Herbert Jones and Dyson Daniels ball-hawking on the perimeter.



Just to illustrate how tough the West is, in interconference play the West has a 85-66 record against the East.

 

[Dago]

A 17-10 finish to the season gets us 50 wins which would have been good for 3rd place in the West last year

 

[Dago]

Good article analyzing the Pels chances for the playoffs

Pelicans have crucial advantage over NBA Play-In Tournament rivals

The Pelicans are fifth place in the West and have a big advantage that should seize control of a secure postseason spot.

clutchpoints.com

The history-making Pelicans (36-25) will have played more games through March 4 than any other team fighting for one of the last guaranteed playoff spots. The currently fifth-placed New Orleans will next visit the lottery-bound Toronto Raptors (22-38) on March 5, and Willie Green's group will have enjoyed three days off before playing that lone game across the border. That's big for two reasons, both in Canada and carrying through down the stretch run.

 

[Dago]

Beginning to look like the starting lineup is not the issue we believed and that we are playing lineups based on matchups (which speaks to the depth and diversity of our team)

First of all, our 'starters' don't play a lot of minutes together


Second, the starting lineup has been trending up in a big way

 

[Chris]