For a pair of New Orleans veteran guards, the early portion of the 2024-25 regular season schedule will provide an opportunity to get reacquainted with some familiar faces – in the form of the opposition. Over just the first eight games of the campaign, 11-year pro CJ McCollum and seven-year vet Dejounte Murray will match up a total of four times against their previous NBA teams. Oddly, the Pelicans face Portland thrice in less than two weeks between Oct. 25 and Nov. 4, while Murray’s first game vs. Atlanta since being traded by the Hawks this summer is Nov. 3.
Just 14 games into the docket, New Orleans uniform No. 14 Brandon Ingram will see the Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 16 in the Blender. Ingram has averaged 23.5 points over 16 career meetings against the purple and gold, his biggest output against vs. opponent (Washington is next at 23.1 ppg).
Other “reunion games” for Pelicans players include center Daniel Theis facing Boston on Jan. 12 and Jan. 31 (Theis played in two games for the Celtics during the 2022 NBA Finals). The vast majority of the team’s remaining core has only played for New Orleans, a group that includes 2019 No. 1 pick Zion Williamson, three-year pros Herb Jones, Trey Murphy and Jose Alvarado, as well as 2023 lottery pick Jordan Hawkins.Play Video
New Orleans Pelicans 2024-25 NBA Schedule
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Back-to-backs increase, but so do “baseball series”
The NBA has gradually reduced the number of back-to-backs for teams during this post-Covid era, but that trend went in the opposite direction for New Orleans in 2024-25. The Pelicans have 16 scheduled back-to-backs, a notable increase from only 13 in 2023-24. However, some of that jump is offset by a drastic uptick in road “baseball series,” or home/home back-to-backs in which New Orleans has no travel between the two halves of a back-to-back.
The Pelicans will play two games in two nights in the Smoothie King Center on six different occasions, as well as a pair of road back-to-backs (at Golden State on Oct. 29-30; at Phoenix on Feb. 27-28). There are a total of five New Orleans road “baseball series” – the Pelicans will also play consecutive games in Portland, Denver and Minnesota – which helps to reduce flight travel miles, while also cutting back on the instances NBA teams are arriving at the next city on road trips in the wee hours of the morning.
Total of nine national TV games on ESPN or TNT, four others on NBA TV
The majority of New Orleans’ national TV appearances will take place during the latter half of the schedule, with just one game apiece airing on TNT (Oct. 29 at Golden State) or ESPN (Nov. 13 at Oklahoma City) through the end of January. However, starting with a Feb. 5 ESPN game at Denver, the pace picks up considerably, with six more ESPN or TNT contests scheduled between Feb. 21 and April 2. There are also four NBA TV games for New Orleans, including both trips to Memphis (Black Friday on Nov. 29, then Jan. 24).
