New Orleans pelicans

2022 - 12 - 12

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Image courtesy of "Yahoo Sports"

Three things to know: Why couldn't the Pelicans or Grizzlies win the ... (Yahoo Sports)

1) Why couldn't the Pelicans or Grizzlies win the West? If forced to predict today who will come out of the West and make the NBA Finals, I would lean Golden ...

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Image courtesy of "Sports Illustrated"

No More Southern Hospitality (Sports Illustrated)

The New Orleans Pelicans and their fans have turned the Smoothie King Center into a rough place for opponents to play.

Their only loss came at the hands of the Boston Celtics, who currently have the best overall and the best road records in the entire league. 11, the Pelicans are 10-1 (.909) in "The Blender." We've seen it before in the NBA. No team in the NBA has been better at home over the past month. Over his last four home games he posted 31 points and nearly eight boards per game. Last season, the Pelicans didn't win their 12th home game until Feb. The "We the North" Raptors. Zion Williamson is playing the best basketball of his career and the Pelicans are finally reaping the benefits in the standings. The "Grind City" Grizzlies. The "We Believe" Warriors. The "Anything is Possible" Celtics. Sunday afternoon the atmosphere at "The Blender" was more akin to the Colosseum of Rome as rabid Pelicans fans reveled in the passion and helped fuel the fire as their team won its seventh consecutive game and strengthened its position as the current top seed in the Western Conference.

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Image courtesy of "SB Nation"

Which NBA Cinderella stories should you believe in? (SB Nation)

These larger markets are, as of now, looking up at the New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies, and Sacramento Kings. Long live small-market Cinderella magic!

But the Memphis Grizzlies were the 2nd best team in terms of record last season. Sacramento is off to one of their best starts in a very long time, and their offense as led by De’Aaron Fox is among the very best in the league. The Kings don’t have the same injury issues as the Pelicans and Grizzlies, and part of the issue with their scheme defensively is what has allowed for them to be so strong offensively. And as well as the team shoots the ball themselves, they have [problems defending the three](https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/team/26/team#tab-shooting_defense_accuracy). [top-10 both in offensive and defensive efficiency for the season](https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/league/summary). [5.8% block percentage](https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/4439#tab-defense_rebounding)!) and gotten the Grizzlies defense in to the [top-5 in the entire NBA](https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/team/15/team#tab-four_factors). But while Memphis and New Orleans are currently top-10 in both offensive and defensive efficiency, Sacramento is 17th on the defensive side of things - without much room for improvement internally. - and they have gotten little production from their best reserve players to this point in the season. The starting five for the Memphis Grizzlies of Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Dillon Brooks, Santi Aldama (filling in for Jackson Jr.), and Steven Adams is a +17.2, 87th percentile, in 180 possessions played. The same is true of the squad many chose to be #1 in the standings when the season concluded, the [Los Angeles Clippers](https://www.clipsnation.com). Three teams having strong starts to their seasons in places that don’t have the allure of free agency buzz and bright lights. The top of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association is mildly surprising.

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