I think they have a for sure win against Detroit but they showed tonight that they definitely could get a win against one of those good teams especially if one of them sits a bunch of their guys in the last game of the season and if we lose out that would get us tied up with them. I agree that the most likely place we end up is the 6th worst record in the league but there's a slim chance we get down to the 5th worst.
I kind of wondered the same I would rather Pelicans not make the playoffs so we are almost guaranteed to have two picks. The extra percentages for a top pick are great but getting a 2nd pick is more important to me.
The Pelicans play the Clippers in LA this Sunday. Could be an interesting game to watch now that Paul George is back. The pelicans are 3-0 against the clippers this season. The Pelicans are 4 games behind the Clippers, with 6 games remaining for both of them (including today's Clipper game in Chicago where they lead by 9 at half).
Yeah, just watching the Clippers right now against this quality Bulls team, after watching the Pelicans against us last night and the Clippers are on a whole other level. George isn't even asserting himself and they're winning. Anything can happen on a given night but I feel pretty comfortable that our pick will convey with the Clippers or Wolves standing in the way of the Pelicans.
Has anyone wondered if Cronin intentionally made the Clippers better to make it harder for the Pelicans to make it into the playoffs?
If so that's a really weird tactic to use. The rule of thumb is to not make competitors better and yourself worse while not taking back significant draft capital.
Clippers end up losing. Pelicans have the tie breaker and the teams play once. If Clippers lose two other games; the Pelicans control their own fate for the 8th seed. Then they only need to win one of two games to make the playoffs. 8th vs 9th is a huge difference.
The Pelicans/Lakers game tomorrow will be huge. AD is coming back. Not sure on the status of LeBron. Hopefully the Lakers can win with AD back.
They already said that LeBron would be back at the beginning of the day today but listed AD as a game time decision before making the announcement on twitter that he'll be back.
The Clippers are 37-40 and the Pelicans are 33-43, so the Pelicans would have to win 4 of their last 6 games and the Clippers lose all of their remaining 5 games for them to be tied at the end. The Clippers should be able to win at least 2 more games (Sac and OKC) to get to 39 wins which would mean the Pelicans would have to win all of their remaining games to tie at the end of the season (if that happens). Edit: So any combination of Clipper wins and Pelican losses that equals 3 means the Clippers win the 8 seed. Example, one clipper win and two Pelican losses. (The Clippers could finish at worst 38-44 and the Pelicans at best 37-45). Clippers schedule: Pelicans schedule:
Just can't bring myself to root for LA. Maybe we get a worse draft pick or even lose it if NO goes and wins..... still I can't root for the Lakers.
