The No. 1 seed is tightly held by the Sacramento Kings. at the end of the regular season, the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed.
With four games remaining, beginning with Tuesday’s home game against the Kings, the eighth-place New Orleans Pelicans have a lot of room to move up or down.
After winning seven of their last eight games, the Pelicans’ (40-38) serious threat of missing out on one of the 10 spots in the postseason has diminished.
The Pelicans can secure essentially a spot in the play-in competition with a triumph against the Kings. They will start Tuesday’s game half a game behind the Los Angeles Clippers, who are fifth, and the Golden State Warriors, who are sixth, and against whom they would currently win a head-to-head tiebreaker.
Brandon Ingram, the forward for the Pelicans, has led the team’s surge, scoring at least 25 points in nine games in a row. He has averaged 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and the first two triple-doubles of his career over that nine-game stretch; Ingram has made 52.4 percent of his shots from the floor, 48.0% of his 3-pointers, and 92.4% of his free throws.
After a 16-year absence, the Kings (47-31) have already secured their first playoff berth, but head coach Mike Brown is concerned about his team’s focus as the postseason nears.
With four games remaining, Sacramento is two games behind Memphis, which is in second place, and four games ahead of Phoenix, which is in fourth place.
San Antonio, which has the second-worst record in the West and was playing without multiple rotation players, defeated the Kings 142-134 in overtime at home on Sunday.
The defeat temporarily prevented Sacramento from winning its first division title in 20 years.
This season, the Pelicans and Kings have played twice, with both teams winning at home. The Kings defeated New Orleans 123-108 on March 6 and 136-104 on February 5.
If the Kings win the championship, The Pelicans are one of a few teams that have a chance of winning the No. They will be up against the sixth seed in the playoffs’ first round.
