A fluffy schedule in January was supposed to be the time these New Orleans Pelicans made a push up the standings. Rest advantage in eight of 15 games (dated back to New Year's Eve), just two back-to-backs themselves, and a massive homestand should be the ticket to an outstanding month for a good NBA team. Instead the Pelicans were merely decent in the last month.
8-7 is not an awful record, but if the Pelicans were actually a good team it should be better. New Orleans was 10-21 New Year's Eve morning and four games back of the Utah Jazz for eighth in the Western Conference.