Chris Dodson Articles - Page 20

The New Orleans Pelicans can be forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief following an NBA Play-In Tournament victory over the Sacramento Kings. They were without an injured Zion Williamson and just one loss away from squandering a 49-win season. Falling short of the NBA Playoffs would have kicked off a long offseason of roster […]

Willie Green’s three years in charge of the New Orleans Pelicans have been interrupted repeatedly by injuries to Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. Most teams missing All-Stars as much as this team would be stuck in the NBA Draft lottery. Green’s group is going to the NBA Playoffs for the second time in three seasons […]

The New Orleans Pelicans had NBA Playoffs goals to start the 2023-24 season. Willie Green’s group was sitting pretty in late March, holding down fourth place in the Western Conference for a few days. A late-season swoop almost destroyed the goodwill built up over the previous six months though the team did secure the final […]

The New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings could not have asked for a better NBA Play-In Tournament finale. The Pelicans have beaten the Kings five times this season but the sixth meeting is all that matters now. New Orleans and Sacramento know each other well too. This should make for a low-scoring, defensive-minded title fight […]

The Willie Green era has definitely kept fans on edge and engaged, that’s one fact fans cannot deny. The New Orleans Pelicans just finished one of the franchise’s best regular seasons ever (49 wins) but are once again stuck in an elimination game. They are still playing to keep their postseason hopes alive knowing full […]

What a difference a few weeks can make in the NBA. The New Orleans Pelicans were in fourth place during a late March surge up the standings. Their championship campaign may be finished on April 19 without an NBA Playoffs appearance to show for a 49-win season. The pressure on the locker room is starting […]

Fans of the New Orleans Pelicans can be a fickle bunch and Brandon Ingram is starting to learn that the hardest way possible. Sitting on the sidelines for the entire fourth quarter of an NBA Play-In Tournament loss to the Los Angeles Lakers was a humbling experience for Ingram. He reportedly did not take the […]

Brandon Ingram went down with a nasty-looking, gut-wrenching knee injury early in a mid-standings matchup with the Orlando Magic on March 24. The New Orleans Pelicans wound up on the losing end of that date but won a small victory with great imaging results. Ingram avoided major damage, was diagnosed with a knee contusion, and […]

The NBA Playoffs bring a certain kind of seven-game series pressure but the introduction of the NBA Play-In Tournament has injected some elimination game intensity into the postseason. The extra opportunities to keep a team’s NBA Finals dreams alive have been a lifeline to the New Orleans Pelicans. They’ve been in the Play-In three consecutive […]

The New Orleans Pelicans came out with a sluggish effort in the regular season finale against the Los Angeles Lakers. Now the two squads are locked into the seventh vs. eighth-seed NBA Play-In Tournament game on Tuesday. LeBron James finished with 28 points, 17 assists, 11 rebounds and five steals to set up a rematch. […]

The Los Angeles Lakers sure know how to shine an enormous amount of negative national media attention towards the New Orleans Pelicans. During the ESPN-televised regular-season finale, Willie Green’s group did little to stem the tide spurred on by LeBron James. The two teams came into the game facing drastically different final-day situations but now […]

LeBron James and Anthony Davis were well-rested going into the NBA regular-season finale against the New Orleans Pelicans. The Los Angeles Lakers had two days off following a 45-minute flight from Memphis before squaring off against Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. The Pelicans lost, setting up a rematch with the Lakers after a day for […]

Willie Green’s New Orleans Pelicans have been shaped into a defense-first squad through three seasons of adversity. Zion Williamson has not been around or available for all of those games due to injuries and rehabilitation but the intensity of the team’s role players is starting to rub off. That’s just one big reason why the […]

Perhaps Draymond Green deserves a pass having fallen victim to one of humanity’s greatest flaws. The future Hall of Famer made some bold claims based on past results instead of current performance. Sure, the New Orleans Pelicans do not get to the NBA Playoffs often, with just eight appearances in franchise history. This year’s Pelicans […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are missing an NBA All-Star but the locker room is powering through the regular season’s home stretch in style. The team is breaking franchise records (most road wins in a season) and a few individuals are crossing huge milestones as well. Jonas Valanciunas snagged a 9,000th career rebound on Valentine’s Day […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have been up against a wall lately as a team. Zion Williamson has been facing walls of paint-packing defenses all season, but even more so of late since Brandon Ingram has missed the last 10 games. The two-time All-Star is taking what is given, though, looking for easy-to-read cues that lead […]

Trey Murphy III and CJ McCollum combined for 60 points before sharing the postgame podium following a 110-100 New Orleans Pelicans road win over the Portland Trail Blazers. The visitors had to overcome some first-half hiccups but the Pelicans eventually pulled away thanks to big nights from the sharpshooting duo. Murphy III got extra credit […]

The 2023-24 NBA season’s playoff races are coming down to the wire but thanks to some help the New Orleans Pelicans are back in sixth place in the Western Conference. The franchise’s most outspoken leaders claim the locker room is not worried about any other games on the NBA docket on any given night. No, […]

The New Orleans Pelicans know they are playing with fire despite having control over their NBA Playoffs fate. They have dropped double-digit leads in losses and have yet to mount a fourth-quarter comeback. Sure, not all losses are equal in the moment but they all count the same in the end-of-season standings. Asserting otherwise is […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are many things. Young, talented, blessed with depth, and an organically grown locker room chemistry that has paid off during the most challenging stretches of past seasons. This year’s squad can put frustration at the top of the list after a brutal home 117-108 home loss to the Orlando Magic. Their […]

Everyone from the front office to fans of the New Orleans Pelicans (45-31) can be forgiven for a restless night following a 117-108 home loss to the Orlando Magic. Injuries and the team’s performance are to blame for lots of tossing and turning this week. Brandon Ingram is still working back from a knee contusion […]

The New Orleans Pelicans made it through 90% of the NBA’s 2023-23 slate before hitting an injury-related crisis. Unfortunately, another of the franchise’s All-Stars has been on the shelf down the regular season’s stretch run yet again. A team fighting for fourth place at the start of March Madness is now limping toward the finish […]

If Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde had to agree on a basketball team to follow, they could do a lot worse than the New Orleans Pelicans (45-30). Willie Green had the team on pace for 50 wins and fighting for fourth place at the end of March thanks to a 3-1 road trip. Now the […]

Devin Booker did it again, “it” meaning 50 points or more against the New Orleans Pelicans. Booker’s performance was downright historic. The Phoenix Suns superstar is the first NBA player to score at least 50 points in three consecutive games against the same opponent since Wilt Chamberlain back in the 1960s. Willie Green credited Booker […]

Over 90% of the NBA’s 2023-24 regular season is in the books and the NBA Playoffs race is more jumbled than ever behind the Boston Celtics. The league’s individual awards race is becoming clearer, however. The national media’s narratives around the All-NBA and All-Defense teams are starting to come to a consensus. Betting odds are […]

The New Orleans Pelicans (45-29) cannot clinch a spot in the Western Conference’s fourth versus fifth first-round series this week but they can sure lose any hopes of appearing in it. Willie Green’s group is just 1-2 amid a six-game homestand and losing ground in the NBA Playoffs race. The first week of April is […]

The New Orleans Pelicans (45-29) are not quite at full strength and are still at risk of falling into the NBA Play-In Tournament with eight regular season games remaining. Dyson Daniels just returned from a meniscus surgery and Brandon Ingram is nursing a bone contusion around his knee. Willie Green’s group needs a few more […]

The New Orleans Pelicans (45-29) are in a precarious position following a 104-92 home loss to the Boston Celtics. They are now barely hanging on to fifth place in the Western Conference, just half a game up on the Dallas Mavericks and two games ahead of the Phoenix Suns. Externally, the Mavericks have one of […]

One shot, one play, can elicit so many emotions and alter a season’s momentum, but the respective locker rooms usually come to a consensus. While one group celebrates, another grovels and wonders what could have been if only one shot, one play, went differently. The New Orleans Pelicans and Boston Celtics game is just the […]

The New Orleans Pelicans (45-29) are officially in a dogfight after laying another egg in a playoff-caliber tuneup at Smoothie King Center on Saturday. The Boston Celtics ended a two-game slide with a 104-92 road win and the Pelicans woke up on Easter just two games above the NBA Play-In Tournament line. The problems exposed […]

Every NBA champion takes a different path to the NBA Finals. Some get cakewalk schedules afforded to a top seed. Others, like the Miami Heat’s recent run, start with first-round upsets. Right now the NBA Playoffs picture is a bit murky behind the runaway Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics. The New Orleans Pelicans are right […]

The NBA Playoffs are just around the corner and every team except the Boston Celtics is still in a battle for the best spot in the conference standings. A few franchises are assured of a week off before the postseason’s seven-game series begins. The New Orleans Pelicans are not one of those safe squads. Willie […]

It is crawfish season in the Gulf South region and the national media is starting to mimic those Mississippi River mudbugs when it comes to their comments on New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson. See, for those who do not know, crawfish walk backward when approached. Several television and radio personalities spent the morning doing […]

Willie Green and the New Orleans Pelicans (45-28) are still trying to find the best rotations right and get certain lineups locked in before the NBA Playoffs begin. They are not sacrificing wins for the sake of experimenting but certain players are getting asked to do more than usual. One very large Lithuanian is being […]

The term ‘All-Star whistle’ is around for a reason. NBA referees, for one reason or another, tend to give All-NBA talents more favorable calls than players still running out the years on their rookie contracts. Zion Williamson has been learning this the hard way and has the bruises to prove it. The New Orleans Pelicans […]

The New Orleans Pelicans could waste no time with any pats on the back following a 3-1 road trip. Sure, Willie Green’s group was coming back to the Smoothie King Center for a six-game homestand. The teams coming to town all have postseason aspirations, or in the San Antonio Spurs’ case, Victor Wembanyama. The Pelicans […]

The NBA Playoffs have already started according to one New Orleans Pelicans fan favorite. While the NBA does not recognize Jose Alvarado’s statement, the league’s teams are starting to buckle down for the last 10-game sprint to the regular-season finish line. Some have accepted their NBA Draft Lottery fate, while others are pressing to avoid […]

The New Orleans Pelicans (44-28) are getting one lottery pick-level reinforcement back into the rotation while losing a pesky fan favorite. Dyson Daniels finished the last step of the team’s return to action plan with a splendid night leading the Birmingham Squadron. The Australian has been recalled to the NBA roster, but Jose Alvarado (right […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are fighting battles on multiple fronts. Most historians would advise against such a move, but the franchise just might be able to pull off a few wins worth the effort. First, Willie Green’s group is on pace for a 50-win season. His Coach of the Year odds are improving with every […]