The five most successful NBA road teams from Christmastime through the season’s mid-March stoppage include the league’s defending champions; the club with the Western Conference’s best overall record; as well as two squads that could face each other in the 4-5 matchup of the West playoffs. Oddly, the fifth member of that quintet unceremoniously opened 2019-20 by losing 12 of its first 15 road contests, including a Dec. 20 defeat to a foe that isn’t even among the 22 invitees for the resumption of basketball.
There are countless numerical ways to demonstrate New Orleans’ remarkable in-season turnaround, but the shift in the Pelicans’ road results may be the most revealing.