The New Orleans Pelicans have managed to remain “alive” in the Western Conference.
At one point this season, the New Orleans Pelicans were considered one of the worst teams in recent history. At least that’s what their record would indicate. Considering this team had an offseason to forget, the Pelicans couldn’t have gotten to a worse start to the season.
On November 12, the Pelicans were 1-12 and didn’t have much reason for hope. Zion Williamson was still sidelined due to a mysterious injury and there were no true reinforcements on the way.
However, a month and a half later, the Pelicans have, somehow, found a way to remain somewhat afloat and rebound from a putrid start to the season in the Western Conference. Since November 13, the Pelicans are 12-10 which would be good for fifth in the Western Conference over that stretch.
While the Pelicans have been far from superb over that stretch, they’ve done just enough to remain somewhat competitive in the West. As they currently stand, the Pelicans are 13-22, 12th in the conference, but only four games out of the 8th seed and two games out of the 10th seed.
What is even more encouraging is that the Pelicans have managed to remain afloat in the West without Zion, who remains out with an injury. There’s no current timeline for his return to the team or even a guarantee that he’ll be back at any point this season, but if he does return he could give this team the push that they’ll need to make a strong move toward a playoff spot.
The Pelicans are far from the team that many expected them to be this season. They’re not healthy and didn’t exactly make the improvements to the roster that many thought they would during the offseason.
That said, the fact that this team has still managed to remain “alive” in the Western Conference is nothing short of miraculous.
The question that remains for the Pelicans this season is whether they’ll ever be full strength and whether that will be enough to help this team break into the top 8 of the Western Conference.