The New Orleans Pelicans final twelve games of the 2016 season will be without much fanfare for hometown fans. Playoff aspirations are dead in the water and most of the team's key contributors will not dribble a basketball again during these remaining forsaken regulation minutes. Yep, tank pictures are most definitely en vogue.
On the flip side, Thursday's opponent will treat the rest of the schedule as preciously as the Pelicans did one year ago. The Indianapolis Pacers sit just one game inside the Eastern Conference playoff race, currently fighting tooth and nail with the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons for the last two playoff seeds.