In most years, a late-season game between a No. 4 seed and a No. 9 seed wouldn’t have massive playoff implications for both teams. Then again, this year hasn’t been at all like most years. Each of the top four teams in the Western Conference enters Tuesday with a winning streak of at least five games. That includes the Pelicans, winners of eight straight.
New Orleans has used that surge to get all the way up to the No. 4 spot in the conference, but they’re still at risk of falling out of the playoff picture altogether by season’s end.