It’s been over 20 years since a Western Conference team qualified for the playoffs with a sub-.500 record, but through one-fourth of the 2019-20 regular season, Phoenix sits in eighth place despite a 9-11 mark. Another squad, Minnesota, is seventh at 10-10. As a result, despite a poor start to the campaign at 6-15, New Orleans enters Thursday’s home matchup against the Suns still within shouting distance of the top eight, having a chance to cut the gap to just 2.5 games back tonight. To do so, the Pelicans will need to improve their performance at both ends of the court, but particularly defensively, where they rank 27th in the NBA in efficiency (113.
Pelicans shootaround update presented by HUB International: New Orleans seeking second straight win vs. Phoenix in two-week span
