10 Takeaways Through 10 Pelicans Wins

We’re officially past the 20% mark of the NBA season, which means it’s late enough to begin digging into certain trends and early enough to jump to conclusions about unsustainable starts (both good and bad). The Pelicans have won 10 games so far, so here are 10 takeaways from yours truly regarding what we’ve seen over the past month. With the Pelicans’ victory last night, they now have (via Cleaning the Glass) the NBA’s 10th best net rating, the 3rd best offensive rating, and (per Basketball-Reference) the 10th most difficult strength of schedule. That in itself is impressive, but it also doesn’t capture how few breaks the Pelicans have experienced this year from a player health perspective – and I’m not even talking about the Pelicans’ 0-3 record without AD or Elfrid Payton’s extended absence. Every playoff contending team that the Pelicans have faced to date have been pretty close to full strength. Opponents like the Rockets (CP3/Harden), Nets (LeVert), Warriors (Steph/Draymond), Thunder (Westbrook), and Raptors (Kawhi) have all played games this year without some of their best players, but the Pels got them at their best (or very close to it). Obviously, the goal here is not to wish injuries on any team or to complain about it, but rather to simply point out that the Pelicans have kept pace in the standings despite facing a lot of tough competition. One of the biggest reasons for this strong play is…

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