With the NBA’s easiest schedule on paper during the post-All-Star portion of the season, New Orleans’ playoff chances will at least partly be contingent upon how the Pelicans fare against struggling opponents. Among numerous encouraging signs lately, New Orleans is showing a knack for not only beating those kinds of teams, but dominating them. On Friday, the Pelicans won for the 13th time in their last 14 games against teams currently under .500, with the vast majority of those wins by double-digit margins.
New Orleans built a 23-point lead over the Central Division’s last-place team and withstood a brief Cleveland second-half push, improving to 20-11 since Dec.