The 2023–24 New Orleans Pelicans season was the 22nd season of the New Orleans Pelicans franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team returned to the playoffs after a one-year absence defeating the Sacramento Kings in the second game of the NBA play-in tournament after losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first game. However, they were swept in the first round by the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder.
| 2023–24 New Orleans Pelicans season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Willie Green |
| General manager | Trajan Langdon |
| Owner(s) | Gayle Benson |
| Arena | Smoothie King Center |
| Results | |
| Record | 49–33 (.598) |
| Place | Division: 2nd (Southwest) Conference: 8th (Western) |
| Playoff finish | First Round (lost to Thunder 0–4) |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
| Local media | |
| Television | Bally Sports New Orleans Gray Television[a] (10 games) |
| Radio | WRNO-FM |
The New Orleans Pelicans drew an average home attendance of 17,301 in 40 home games in the 2023-24 NBA season, the 24th highest in the league. The total attendance was 692,054.[1]
Draft
edit| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | College / Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | Jordan Hawkins | SG |  United States
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UConn (So.) |
The Pelicans had one first-round pick entering the draft.[2]
Roster
edit| Players | Coaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Roster |
Standings
editDivision
edit| Southwest Division | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | Div | GP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| y – Dallas Mavericks | 50 | 32 | .610 | – | 25–16 | 25–16 | 11–5 | 82 |
| x – New Orleans Pelicans | 49 | 33 | .598 | 1.0 | 21–19 | 28–14 | 9–7 | 82 |
| Houston Rockets | 41 | 41 | .500 | 9.0 | 27–14 | 14–27 | 9–7 | 82 |
| Memphis Grizzlies | 27 | 55 | .329 | 23.0 | 9–32 | 18–23 | 8–8 | 82 |
| San Antonio Spurs | 22 | 60 | .268 | 28.0 | 12–29 | 10–31 | 3–13 | 82 |
Conference
edit| Western Conference | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | GP |
| 1 | c – Oklahoma City Thunder * | 57 | 25 | .695 | – | 82 |
| 2 | x – Denver Nuggets | 57 | 25 | .695 | – | 82 |
| 3 | x – Minnesota Timberwolves | 56 | 26 | .683 | 1.0 | 82 |
| 4 | y – Los Angeles Clippers * | 51 | 31 | .622 | 6.0 | 82 |
| 5 | y – Dallas Mavericks * | 50 | 32 | .610 | 7.0 | 82 |
| 6 | x – Phoenix Suns | 49 | 33 | .598 | 8.0 | 82 |
| 7 | x – New Orleans Pelicans | 49 | 33 | .598 | 8.0 | 82 |
| 8 | x – Los Angeles Lakers | 47 | 35 | .573 | 10.0 | 82 |
| 9 | pi – Sacramento Kings | 46 | 36 | .561 | 11.0 | 82 |
| 10 | pi – Golden State Warriors | 46 | 36 | .561 | 11.0 | 82 |
| 11 | Houston Rockets | 41 | 41 | .500 | 16.0 | 82 |
| 12 | Utah Jazz | 31 | 51 | .378 | 26.0 | 82 |
| 13 | Memphis Grizzlies | 27 | 55 | .329 | 30.0 | 82 |
| 14 | San Antonio Spurs | 22 | 60 | .268 | 35.0 | 82 |
| 15 | Portland Trail Blazers | 21 | 61 | .256 | 36.0 | 82 |
Game log
editPreseason
edit| 2023 preseason game log Total: 1–3 (Home: 0–2; Road: 1–1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Preseason: 1–3 (home: 0–2; road: 1–1)
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| 2023–24 preseason schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regular season
edit| 2023–24 game log Total: 49–33 (Home: 21–19; Road: 28–14) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 2–1 (home: 1–1; road: 1–0)
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November: 8–8 (home: 6–3; road: 2–5)
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December: 9–5 (home: 4–3; road: 5–2)
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January: 8–7 (home: 3–3; road: 5–4)
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February: 8–4 (home: 3–2; road: 5–2)
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March: 10–4 (home: 4–3; road: 6–1)
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April: 4–4 (home: 0–4; road: 4–0)
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| 2023–24 season schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Play-in
edit| 2024 play-in game log Total: 1–1 (home: 1–1; road: 0–0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Play-in: 1–1 (home: 1–1; road: 0–0)
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| 2023–24 season schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playoffs
edit| 2024 playoff game log Total: 0–4 (home: 0–2; road: 0–2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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First Round: 0–4 (home: 0–2; road: 0–2)
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| 2024 playoff schedule | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In-Season Tournament
editThis was the first regular season where all the NBA teams competed in a mid-season tournament setting due to the implementation of the 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament.[3][4] During the in-season tournament period, the Pelicans competed in Group B of the Western Conference, which included the defending champion Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Houston Rockets. Despite having a couple of scares by not only losing to the Houston Rockets and barely not scoring enough points to overtake the Phoenix Suns for the wild card spot had it been deemed necessary, the Pelicans ultimately managed to secure Group B's top seed for the in-season tournament. In the first knockout round, the Pelicans beat the winners of Group C, the Sacramento Kings, by a final score of 127–117 on the road. Tragically, during that night, a 34-year-old Kings fan named Gregorio "Greg" Florez Breedlove had a medical emergency during the first quarter of that game and died 20 minutes after emergency medical services arrived to try and help him out.[5][6] For their semifinal game that also counted as their 82nd game of the regular season, their opponent was the Los Angeles Lakers, who were considered the home team in the neutral site of the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada due to their record in the In-Season Tournament. The Pelicans would suffer a brutal, crushing defeat to the Lakers in their December 7 match-up, with the Lakers winning 133-89 that night.
West group B
edit
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Qualification | NOP | HOU | DAL | DEN | LAC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Orleans Pelicans | 4 | 3 | 1 | 463 | 430 | +33 | Advance to knockout stage | — | 101–104 | 131–110 | 115–110 | 116–106 | |
| 2 | Houston Rockets | 4 | 2[b] | 2 | 424 | 414 | +10 | 104–101 | — | 115–121 | 105–86 | 100–106 | ||
| 3 | Dallas Mavericks | 4 | 2[b] | 2 | 489 | 497 | −8 | 110–131 | 121–115 | — | 114–125 | 144–126 | ||
| 4 | Denver Nuggets | 4 | 2[b] | 2 | 432 | 442 | −10 | 110–115 | 86–105 | 125–114 | — | 111–108 | ||
| 5 | Los Angeles Clippers | 4 | 1 | 3 | 446 | 471 | −25 | 106–116 | 106–100 | 126–144 | 108–111 | — |
- ^ Affiliates include
- WVUE-DT (New Orleans, Louisiana)
- WAFB (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)
- KADN-TV (Lafayette, Louisiana)
- KSLA (Shreveport, Louisiana)
- KPLC (Lake Charles, Louisiana)
- KNOE-TV (Monroe, Louisiana)
- KALB-TV (Alexandria, Louisiana)
- WLOX (Biloxi, Mississippi)
- WLBT (Jackson, Mississippi)
- WDAM-TV (Laurel, Mississippi)
- WTOK-TV (Meridian, Mississippi)
- WALA-TV (Mobile, Alabama)
- ^ a b c Tied on head-to-head results. Overall point difference is used as the tiebreaker.
Player statistics
edit| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
Regular season
edit| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jose Alvarado | 56 | 0 | 18.4 | .412 | .377 | .673 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 1.1 | .3 | 7.1 |
| Izaiah Brockington | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | .400 | .000 | 2.0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | 4.0 | |
| Jalen Crutcher | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | .000 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | ||
| Dyson Daniels | 61 | 16 | 22.3 | .447 | .311 | .642 | 3.9 | 2.7 | 1.4 | .4 | 5.8 |
| Kaiser Gates | 1 | 0 | 7.0 | .000 | .000 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | |
| Jordan Hawkins | 67 | 10 | 17.3 | .382 | .366 | .838 | 2.2 | 1.0 | .3 | .1 | 7.8 |
| Brandon Ingram | 64 | 64 | 32.9 | .492 | .355 | .801 | 5.1 | 5.7 | .8 | .6 | 20.8 |
| Herbert Jones | 76 | 76 | 30.5 | .498 | .418 | .867 | 3.6 | 2.6 | 1.4 | .8 | 11.0 |
| Kira Lewis Jr.† | 15 | 0 | 9.6 | .308 | .100 | .909 | .9 | 1.2 | .3 | .1 | 2.9 |
| E. J. Liddell | 8 | 0 | 2.9 | .167 | .000 | 1.000 | .6 | .1 | .3 | .3 | .5 |
| Naji Marshall | 66 | 1 | 19.0 | .463 | .387 | .791 | 3.6 | 1.9 | .7 | .2 | 7.1 |
| CJ McCollum | 66 | 66 | 32.7 | .459 | .429 | .827 | 4.3 | 4.6 | .9 | .6 | 20.0 |
| Trey Murphy III | 57 | 23 | 29.6 | .443 | .380 | .815 | 4.9 | 2.2 | .9 | .5 | 14.8 |
| Larry Nance Jr. | 61 | 0 | 19.9 | .573 | .415 | .770 | 5.0 | 1.9 | 1.0 | .3 | 5.7 |
| Jeremiah Robinson-Earl | 39 | 1 | 8.6 | .474 | .333 | .750 | 1.9 | .5 | .3 | .1 | 2.9 |
| Matt Ryan | 28 | 1 | 13.9 | .434 | .451 | .929 | 1.4 | .6 | .2 | .0 | 5.4 |
| Dereon Seabron | 6 | 0 | 9.2 | .308 | .500 | .833 | 1.2 | .8 | .3 | .2 | 2.3 |
| Jonas Valančiūnas | 82 | 82 | 23.5 | .559 | .308 | .785 | 8.8 | 2.1 | .4 | .8 | 12.2 |
| Zion Williamson | 70 | 70 | 31.5 | .570 | .333 | .702 | 5.8 | 5.0 | 1.1 | .7 | 22.9 |
| Cody Zeller | 43 | 0 | 7.4 | .419 | .333 | .605 | 2.6 | .9 | .2 | .1 | 1.8 |
Playoffs
edit| Player | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jose Alvarado | 4 | 0 | 15.5 | .150 | .071 | 1.0 | 2.3 | 1.3 | .3 | 1.8 | |
| Dyson Daniels | 3 | 0 | 5.7 | .333 | .000 | .7 | .0 | .7 | .0 | 1.3 | |
| Jordan Hawkins | 3 | 0 | 4.0 | .000 | .000 | .7 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | |
| Brandon Ingram | 4 | 4 | 36.3 | .345 | .250 | .895 | 4.5 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 14.3 |
| Herbert Jones | 4 | 4 | 35.3 | .390 | .333 | 1.000 | 5.0 | 2.5 | 1.3 | .3 | 13.0 |
| E. J. Liddell | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | .0 | |||
| Naji Marshall | 4 | 0 | 21.0 | .429 | .400 | 1.000 | 2.8 | 1.3 | .5 | .5 | 9.0 |
| CJ McCollum | 4 | 4 | 37.0 | .419 | .241 | 1.000 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 1.8 | .8 | 17.8 |
| Trey Murphy III | 4 | 4 | 42.0 | .375 | .333 | 6.5 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 11.5 | |
| Larry Nance Jr. | 4 | 0 | 21.0 | .588 | .250 | .667 | 8.3 | 1.8 | .5 | .0 | 6.3 |
| Jeremiah Robinson-Earl | 1 | 0 | 5.0 | .500 | .000 | 1.0 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | 2.0 | |
| Matt Ryan | 1 | 0 | 3.0 | .000 | .000 | 1.0 | .0 | 1.0 | .0 | .0 | |
| Jonas Valančiūnas | 4 | 4 | 22.5 | .524 | .000 | .824 | 11.0 | 1.3 | .5 | .0 | 14.5 |
- † Denotes player spent time with another team in the season. Stats reflect time with the Pelicans only.
Transactions
editFree agency
editSubtractions
edit| Player | Reason | New Team | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Richardson | Free agent | Miami Heat | [7] |
| Garrett Temple | Waived | Toronto Raptors | [8] |
References
edit- ^ https://www.espn.com/nba/attendance/_/year/2024
- ^ "2023 NBA Draft: Complete 1-58 order of picks". NBA.com. June 8, 2023. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
- ^ "NBA officially unveils format, groups for new in-season tournament". ESPN. July 8, 2023. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
- ^ "In-Season Tournament 101: Rules, format and how it works". National Basketball Association. July 8, 2023. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
- ^ "Fan dies after emergency during Pels-Kings game". December 5, 2023.
- ^ "Sports Digest: Fan dies after medical event in stands at Kings-Pelicans game". December 6, 2023.
- ^ "HEAT SIGN JOSH RICHARDSON". NBA.com. July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2023.
- ^ "Pelicans waive Garrett Temple". NBA.com. July 5, 2023. Retrieved July 5, 2023.