Pelicans at Cavaliers
The New Orleans Pelicans did what they needed to do by winning the final four of a five-game homestand to pull themselves back into sight of the top eight in the Western Conference. The schedule gets much tougher on Monday, when the Pelicans begin a stretch with six of seven on the road by visiting the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers.
New Orleans is still seven games under .500 but is right behind the No. 8 spot in the west after earning a 104-92 win over the New York Knicks on Friday. "We’ve still got a long, long way to go," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry told reporters. "Basically, what we talked about is that this has to be the start of a stepping stone to get us where we want to get to and it’s going to be important how we handle these games at home. Now we go on the road and it’s the same thing. We’ve still got to play good basketball." The Cavaliers finished out 2016 with 12 wins in their last 14 games and ripped past the Charlotte Hornets 121-109 on Saturday despite Kyrie Irving (hamstring) sitting out. Irving, who posted a double-double in six of his last eight games, is day-to-day after bumping into LeBron James against Boston on Thursday and feeling a twinge in the hamstring.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN New Orleans, FSN Ohio (Cleveland)
ABOUT THE PELICANS (14-21): New Orleans is getting healthy enough to use a small lineup with Anthony Davis at center and Solomon Hill and Buddy Hield on the wings. Hill knocked down a pair of 3-pointers and scored 10 points in 28 minutes in Friday's win. "We’re not too out of the playoffs and we see it, but we just need to go ahead and grasp it," Hill told the team's website. "You can say it’s a renewed sense of energy but we understand what we want to do here as a ball club, we want to compete and play at the highest level and we want to play in the playoffs, so we only have one goal at this moment and that’s to get there."
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (25-7): The only question about Cleveland has to do with its supporting cast, and the team is getting a chance to answer those questions with J.R. Smith (thumb) out and Irving ailing. Jordan McRae got the start in place of Irving on Saturday and scored 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range. Kay Felder is struggling to get consistent playing time but logged 19 minutes backing up McRae on Saturday and delivered 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pelicans G Tyreke Evans (knee) had his minutes restriction raised to 18 on Friday and managed a season-high 16 points.
2. Cleveland PF Kevin Love averaged 29 points in the last two games and recorded a double-double in three straight.
3. The teams split two meetings last season, with New Orleans earning a 114-108 win at home.