It's hard to gain nationwide respect as a small market in professional sports. Those teams just do not equal airtime on national broadcasts as their games do not pull the viewership numbers needed for advertising. Sometimes the appearance is a disaster, an embarrassment on the schedule that counts for multiple losses in the style points standings. For instance, the last time a TNT audience watched the New Orleans Pelicans (Dec. 19), Ja Morant hit a game-winner in his season debut for the Memphis Grizzlies.

The last ESPN broadcast with the Pelicans (22-15) ended with the Los Angeles Lakers celebrating a 44-point NBA In-Season Tournament semifinal win. Well, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum have another opportunity to leave a national audience with a good impression even if Zion Williamson is unavailable. New Orleans is rolling at just the right time; Golden State is still reeling from several setbacks.

The Pelicans have won 13 of their last 19 games and five of the previous six. Coach Willie Green's group has 14 wins by 10+ points since beating the Dallas Mavericks by 21 on November 4, 2023. New Orleans bested Luka Doncic's Mavericks by 21, blew out the Sacramento Kings by 36 (Nov. 20), handled the first-place Minnesota Timberwolves by 14 (Dec. 11) and the Cleveland Cavaliers by 19 on the road (Dec. 21), then took down the mega-market Los Angeles Lakers by 20 on New Year's Eve nd the Brooklyn Nets by 27 (Jan. 2).

New Orleans then beat Minnesota by 11 on the road in the second night of a back-to-back set. The LA Clippers walked out of the Crescent City with a comprehensive win but the Pelicans responded with a 33-point road win over the Sacramento Kings. That catches the schedule up to today's tilt versus Steph Curry's crippled Warriors (17-19), losers of five of their last seven games going back to Christmas Day and 2-4 during their current seven-game homestand.

Pelicans pulling Jekyll and Hyde act on ESPN, TNT

The Pelicans were slated to feature in a dozen nationally broadcast games this season but could be flexed into more appearances as the season wears on. ESPN was scheduled to broadcast four Pelicans games but also got the In-Season Tournament on top. The Pelicans had previously wrung out a 4-point road win against the Oklahoma City Thunder (Nov. 1) on ESPN and next up is Golden State (Jan. 10).

The Pelicans will finish out their ESPN allotment in February, first at the Clippers (Feb. 7), then home versus Miami (Feb. 23) after the NBA All-Star break. TNT was to have the Pelicans twice. Chuck and Shaq's crew watched Ja Morant's masterpiece (Dec. 19) before Christmas and will not see Zion Williamson again until April 11 at Sacramento.

NBA TV has broadcast just two of six games with the Pelicans so far. Ingram's 26 points powered the Pelicans past the New York Knicks (Oct. 28). Curry's Warriors beat the Pelicans by 28 in New Orleans two nights later. The league's channel will have the Pelicans on four more times, at the Lakers (Feb. 9), in Miami (Mar. 22), and at home against the Milwaukee Bucks (Mar. 28), and Boston Celtics (Mar. 30).

Perhaps the best news for fans of the team is more Pelicans games will be available for free using over-the-air broadcasts. The Pelicans are following the lead of other Bally Sport's clients and putting 10 games on WVUE-TV FOX 8 and will be simulcast to other Gray Television outlets in Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Lake Charles, Monroe, and Alexandria, Louisiana. Mississippi stations in Biloxi, Jackson, and Hattiesburg will show the game as will those in Meridian and Mobile, Alabama.