The Pelicans have 23 games remaining in the regular season and currently sit six games behind the Houston Rockets, who hold the eighth and final spot in the NBA’s Western Conference playoff race. In theory, New Orleans shouldn’t be written off yet. Realistically, well, that’s another story.
The Pelicans are certainly facing an uphill battle, one that head coach Alvin Gentry concedes is probably going to be too tough to climb.
An angry Alvin Gentry says the Pels are no longer in the playoff race. "No, we're not. We're not."
— Justin Verrier (@JustinVerrier) March 3, 2016
Wednesday night New Orleans lost its second game in a row, falling to the Rockets 100-95 to drop to five wins and five losses in their last ten games. It’s understandable why Gentry was upset after losing a game they could’ve used to make up ground. That said, this definitely is not what fans want to hear.
What started as a promising season after making the playoffs a year ago has largely been derailed by injuries. Anthony Davis, Eric Gordon, and Tyreke Evans have all missed games due to various ailments and Jrue Holiday had his minutes limited early in the season as he recovered from surgery to repair a fractured tibia. One win in their first twelve games also didn’t help.
The good news is, as long as Anthony Davis is healthy, the Pelicans have at least a puncher’s chance to claw their way up into the top eight teams, even if it doesn’t seem likely.
