Around this time a year ago, a Pelicans-Heat matchup made it on the NBA’s vaunted Christmas Day schedule. New Orleans had some of that “new exciting playoff team from last year” smell to them and Miami, led by Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, was pegged as an early season contender to challenge Cleveland in the Eastern Conference.
Fast forward a year later and life comes at you fast. The two teams were both 11 games under .500 entering Thursday’s slate of games, with New Orleans sitting at 10-21 and Miami a game behind at 9-20.