The NBA’s focus on keeping players and teams fresher during the long regular season has meant the implementation of a few scheduling wrinkles in recent years, including “baseball series” in which opponents face each other twice consecutively in the same city. That’s one notable feature of New Orleans’ early-season slate for 2023-24, with three such instances taking place in November alone. The Pelicans host Dallas (Nov. 12, 14) and Sacramento (Nov. 20, 22), then visit Utah (Nov. 25, 27) for a pair of games. The fourth and final New Orleans “baseball series” also takes place during the first half of the schedule, with the Pelicans again facing the Mavericks, this time in Texas on Jan. 13 and 15. Oddly, New Orleans also has consecutive games vs. Indiana after the All-Star break, although those will take place in separate cities, with the Pacers hosting Feb. 28, followed by them visiting the Crescent City on March 1.
Another relatively new idea to reduce travel: NBA teams playing both New York City or Los Angeles franchises consecutively on the same road trip, cutting the number of required flights. In February, the Pelicans will start a four-game road trek by visiting the Clippers on Feb. 7, then the Lakers two nights later in the same Crypto.com Arena.
The NBA schedule-maker has also continued to slice the number of one-game homestand or road trips for clubs, creating lengthier blocks of each. New Orleans has five homestands of at least four games this season, accounting for 25 of the team’s 40 scheduled tilts in the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans also will go on five road trips of at least four games, accounting for 21 away games. New Orleans only has five scheduled one-game road trips (Memphis in Oct. 25 season opener, Oklahoma City, Chicago, Cleveland, Minnesota).
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Thirteen Pelicans back-to-backs, 10 featuring travel
Not long ago, NBA teams commonly were scheduled for roughly 20 back-to-backs every regular season, but those days are over. New Orleans has a total of 13 on its slate, with three of those a bit less taxing because they feature a pair of home games with no travel required. By comparison, the Pelicans were scheduled to play 12 back-to-backs in 2022-23. That was tied for the fewest in the NBA (15 was the league high for any team).
East-heavy stretch after All-Star break
Of the Pelicans’ 30 scheduled games against the Eastern Conference this season, they will play nine in a row between Feb. 25 and March 13, as well as a total of seven between March 19 and April 3. If you break the team’s 80 slated games in half, New Orleans plays only nine interconference games among the first 40 contests, but 21 over the latter segment. On the flip side, that means the Pelicans have 31 conference matchups over their first 40 games, perhaps adding importance to starting the season in strong fashion. At 6-6 out of the gate last season, New Orleans still has not had a winning record through its first dozen games since 2014-15, when it started 7-5.
Mardi Gras road trip is four February games
In 2024, Fat Tuesday will take place on Feb. 13, necessitating that the Pelicans vacate the city for a multi-day stretch. They will go on a four-game Mardi Gras road trip that begins on the West Coast with a pair of contests in Los Angeles against the Clippers and Lakers, followed by a Feb. 10 back-to-back in Portland. New Orleans will wrap up that excursion Feb. 12 at Memphis, prior to a Valentine’s Day home game vs. Washington that concludes the unofficial first half of the regular season. The NBA All-Star Game is Sunday, Feb. 18 in Indianapolis.