Due to an exclusive national TV broadcast on TNT, it will be a late one for New Orleans (26-25) and fans Tuesday night. Tip-off between the Pelicans and Denver (34-16) is at 9 p.m. Central. Pregame coverage on WRNO 99.5 FM begins at 8:30. Bally Sports TV will return for Thursday’s road-trip finale at Dallas.
The Pelicans are in eighth place in the Western Conference entering Tuesday’s relatively light night around the NBA (total of five games). They moved ahead of Minnesota (27-26) last night, but Phoenix (27-25) inched in front of New Orleans, keeping the Pels in the same No. 8 position of the standings.
New Orleans dropped to No. 16 in NBA.com’s power rankings, with writer John Schuhmann noting, “The Pelicans’ three-game trip concludes with a couple of big games in Denver and Dallas, and they’ll be at a rest disadvantage at home against the Kings on Sunday. They’re 9-7 (7-3 with Williamson, 2-4 without him) in games played between the nine West teams that currently have winning records.”