Pelicans Need Wins On National TV To Avoid NBA Play-In, Media Pressure
The NBA’s 2022-23 Season Schedule has been released. Each team now knows the exact amount of air miles that must be traveled to earn a playoff next June. The New Orleans Pelicans made a surprising play-in tournament run and pushed the top-seeded Phoenix Suns in the first round last year. It was peak postseason drama that made for great primetime television.
New Orleans was rewarded with 18 nationally broadcast games this season to greater display the talents of Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson. A winning record when the world is watching would go a long way to securing a playoff spot in a more comfortable fashion compared to last season.
Ingram’s play against Phoenix elevated his reputation around the league. He is now mentioned in a different tier of talent in most hoops conversations amongst those of us in the press box, especially those with visitor’s passes. The former Laker is beloved in the Crescent City and it’s all but guaranteed he will be playing home games in the Smoothie King Center for most of the decade. However, Ingram and Williamson will have to handle the pressure that comes with a bigger platform to make their playoff debut as a duo.
New Orleans went 4-6 while splitting two overtime games on ESPN and TNT. The Pelicans were 5-10 in national games when including NBA TV (1-4), with their only win on the league’s channel coming at the expense of the Los Angeles Lakers. Willie Green does sport a 4-4 record in the postseason, all nationally televised, when including NBA Play-In Tournament contests.
The Pelicans will have to navigate the 11th most challenging schedule to have a chance at an NBA Finals appearance next summer. Their nationally broadcast slate is even more difficult. Only one of the 18 national games is against an expected lottery team. Every other team on the ESPN/TNT/NBA TV schedule except Portland, Sacramento, and the Lakers played at least one postseason game last year.
TNT and ESPN will have cameras in town early to capture visits from the Dallas Mavericks (10/25) and Phoenix Suns (10/28) after road games in Brooklyn and Charlotte. The Clippers, Lakers, and Warriors await after the Phoenix game. This team has been described as “scary when fully healthy” but that’s a tough road to a winning record on Halloween. There is a sense of urgency to get wins early despite the schedule after the 1-12 start to Willie Green’s coaching career last fall.
Hard Sledding Through Holidays
The Pelicans have four national games in November, ending in Memphis a day after Thanksgiving on NBA TV. TNT gets Ja Morant’s Grizzlies visit to New Orleans the week before the turkey is sliced. NBA TV will return for home games against Houston (11/12) and Golden State (11/21). A split with Memphis and overwhelming the Rockets would at least help the team hold serve by playing at least .500 ball. A 3-1 record during this stretch would possibly give the Pelicans an early leg up on a top-four spot in the West.
New Orleans has only one national game in December, an 8:00 PM NBA TV spot in Phoenix, and two in January. The Suns get Ingram and Williamson on the tail-end of a three-game road trip a week before Christmas but luckily the Pelicans play both of those in Utah. This game falls just late enough to serve as an early barometer of what’s working in the building and as a reminder of why what this franchise is fighting for deserves more attention.
The two January spotlights could, well, shine a huge spotlight on what is not working. Most coaches know what their squads need to work on, they stress it at practice and in the huddles. Giannis Antetokounmpo (1/29) and Nikola Jokić (1/31) have a way of exposing flaws that opposing teams did not even know could exist. Getting through this trio of holiday season challenges with even one win might have to be considered a success in the season’s bigger picture. A couple of big wins though, well, that would put Ingram or Williamson into the MVP conversation.
Like most Valentine’s, the Pelicans will love February. Atlanta (TNT) and Cleveland (ESPN) come to the Smoothie King Center before the Pelicans face off with the Lakers (ESPN) in Hollywood. Only a stopover in Oklahoma City (2/13) separates these four national games wrapped around Valentine’s Day. By this point, fans should know just how much they should love the ongoing season. The front office will have an idea of how to move forward approaching the trade deadline.
Making Most of March Madness
The Pelicans will soldier along through March with six of their 15 games getting the national broadcast treatment. New Orleans might be favored during a road trip to Portland (3/1 ESPN) and Sacramento (3/6 NBA TV) but an underdog at home when Dallas (3/8 ESPN)comes to town. The Mavericks game will be just the second home game in New Orleans since February 10.
New Orleans ends the month with a bit of March Madness: A four-game road trip with three nationally aired games against the Clippers (3/25 NBA TV), Warriors (3/28 TNT), and Nuggets (3/30 TNT). Locals fans will have to watch the middle of March and all of April on Bally Sports before a final regular-season game in Minnesota. A winning record in the 18 games seen by the whole country would go a long way to having a home-court advantage in a first-round playoff series.
Winning on national television goes a long way in controlling the conversation outside of the locker room. The unflattering narratives around this team over the past few years are lengthy but barely deserve acknowledgment going into training camp. Williamson’s public statements when signing a five-year contract extension and David Griffin’s beautifully petty piano playing with some Big Easy swing answered all questions and should quiet all naysayers. The NBA world will big singing an upbeat tune about the Pelicans if they can secure some impressive victories while the world is watching.
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