Game Preview: Pelicans vs Knicks- 2/25/23

[We had a bit of a mix-up, and two guys wrote previews for Saturday’s game. I think they’re both good, so we’re posting both of them. Enjoy! —Ed.]

The Knicks face off with the New Orleans Pelicans at MSG tonight on the second night of a back-to-back after a comeback win over the Wizards on Friday night.

Julius Randle tied his career-high with 46 points in DC last night as the Knicks came from 19 points down in the first half to defeat the Wizards 115-109. New York has won four games in a row and are looking to catch the Nets for the number five seed in the eastern conference.

The Pelicans enter the Garden for the first of two meetings this season in eighth place in the western conference. New Orleans is just four games back of third place in the west, however they were at the top of the western conference earlier this season.

It has been a very up and down season for the Pelicans. Since Jan. 16, the Pelicans are 4-13 and had a 10-game losing streak during that run. Before that spiral began, New Orleans was 26-17 and third in the west. They are now 30-30, just a game and a half up on the OKC Thunder for the play-in spots and trying to stay afloat in the crazy western conference. It really highlights how long an NBA season is and how a snapshot of a team’s season can be extremely misleading.

On the injury front, the Knicks will be without Evan Fournier for this one while rookie Dyson Daniels will miss out for the Pelicans.

The Knicks have won three of their last four against the Pelicans overall and these two played to a split in the 2021-22 season.

Prediction

The Knicks are playing the Pelicans at a good time during another wild NBA season. New Orleans is still a big threat in the west, but they are trying to find their way again after a disastrous month and a half stretch. With that being said, they will be as desperate and hungry as any team playing in the league right now considering what they are up against. Whether or not they will thrive under those circumstances remains to be seen coupled with the fact that New York is rolling at the moment. Another thing to keep in mind is that the Knicks have been inconsistent at home this season no matter how well they have been playing heading into a Garden clash.

With all of that being said, I’ll take the Knicks to win and extend their winning streak to five games and continue to push the teams ahead of them in the eastern conference.

We will have coverage during and after the game as always and the tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.