The Pelicans became the first team to advance to the second round of the 2018 playoffs thanks to their surprising sweep of the Blazers. When does the Pelicans next playoff series start? The Pelicans will take on the Warriors in the second round of the NBA playoffs. Inside Hoops reported Game 1 will be on Saturday, April 28. The full series schedule has yet to be released.
Some have speculated that the Warriors failing to sweep the Spurs pushed back the start of the second round series. This is not the case as the Warriors-Spurs series would have to go seven games to push the second round series with the Pelicans back. The second round dates have a range that are set in advance based on television slots.
Sports Talk 790’s Ben DuBose clarified some of the misconceptions by mapping out the potential timeline.
“P.S. Steph Curry isn’t getting extra time to rest unless the Round 1 series goes 7 games (and it won’t). Even if Pelicans and Warriors each sweep, the earliest Round 2 would start is next weekend, when other series would be at Game 7. No scenario where Round 2 starts this week,” DuBose tweeted.
RealGM’s Danny Leroux also reported the Pelicans series would only have been pushed back if the Warriors-Spurs series went seven games.
“Since I have seen some confusion on this point: Warriors/Spurs would need to go at least six games to delay the start of a potential Warriors/Pelicans second round series,” Leroux tweeted.
How did the Pelicans match up against the Warriors during the regular season? Golden State took three of four games, but the Pelicans did win their last matchup earlier this month. The Pelicans came away with a 126-120 victory despite Kevin Durant dropping 41 points and 10 rebounds. New Orleans had three players score 25 or more points in the contest. Anthony Davis scored 34 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked four shots in the win. Nikola Mirotic had 28 points, while Jrue Holiday contributed 25 points.
The Pelicans have not lost since April 1 as New Orleans is riding a nine game winning streak into their second round matchup. New Orleans has been able to play some of their best basketball of the season despite being without DeMarcus Cousins. Davis is playing like one of the top players in the NBA.
“I’ve put in a lot of work trying to become a better player,” Davis told The Times-Picayune. “I think the leadership part of it helped me a lot. Being able to get on guys — get on (Rajon) Rondo, get on Jrue (Holiday), and even when (DeMarcus Cousins) was playing, get on Cuz. I had to realize that these guys actually want to be led. If I just get on them, they’ll listen. … These guys actually want me to lead them.”
The Pelicans did have one small setback as the organization had to recall about 2,500 second round playoff tickets that were sold. According to ESPN, the team had a pre-sale designed for season ticket holders, but codes were shared with non-season ticket holders who should not have been eligible to purchase tickets.
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Pelicans vs. Warriors Schedule: When Does Next Playoff Series Start?