The New Orleans Pelicans advanced to the knockout round in the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament last year. Reaching that stage again will require them to beat some of the Western Conference’s heavyweight teams.
The NBA on Tuesday released the group play schedule for its second in-season tournament. The Pelicans, who are a part of West Group C, will face the Denver Nuggets, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies in group play.
- Nov. 15: New Orleans Pelicans vs. Denver Nuggets
- Nov. 19: New Orleans Pelicans at Dallas Mavericks
- Nov. 22: New Orleans Pelicans vs. Golden State Warriors
- Nov. 29: New Orleans Pelicans at Memphis Grizzlies
There are six groups of five teams. The winner of each group advances to the knockout round. Additionally, each conference will send one wild-card team to the knockout round.
Like last year, the semifinals and championship game to determine the NBA Cup winner will take place in Las Vegas in December.
The Pelicans had a 3-1 record in group play last year. They finished atop their group, and in the first stage of the knockout round, they beat the Sacramento Kings. That reserved New Orleans a spot in the semifinals, which ended in disaster. The Pelicans suffered a 44-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, who went on to win the NBA Cup.
The NBA introduced the in-season tournament format last year as a way to drive interest in the early portion of the league’s regular-season schedule. All NBA Cup action takes place in a time span of a little more than one month. Group play begins Nov. 12. The NBA Cup championship game is slated for Dec. 17.
Each in-season tournament game counts toward a team’s regular-season record, except for the NBA Cup championship game.
The Pelicans won 49 regular-season games last year. They finished with the seventh-best regular-season record in the West. They advanced to the playoffs via the play-in tournament but were eliminated in the first round in a four-game sweep by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
West Group C — the in-season tournament pack of teams the Pelicans are a part of — is considered the most difficult of the six groups. The Nuggets won the NBA championship in 2023, and the Mavericks advanced to the NBA Finals last spring. The Warriors finished last season 10 games above .500 before they were eliminated in the play-in tournament. The Grizzlies finished 13th in the West last season, but injuries and Ja Morant’s suspension held them back. They should be resurgent in 2024-25.
The Pelicans and Grizzlies' matchup in November is on Black Friday. It will be nationally televised on NBA TV.
The NBA is expected to release each team's full regular-season schedule Thursday.