SAN ANTONIO SPURS AT NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
Friday, March 3 (ESPN)
Why it’s on the list
New Orleans will make three home appearances on ESPN’s national airwaves over the course of the regular season, with this being the third such game in the Smoothie King Center (the others are Oct. 28 vs. Golden State and Nov. 23 vs. Minnesota). For the entirety of New Orleans’ tenure as a member of the Southwest Division, San Antonio has been the gold standard, winners of five NBA championships overall, including three titles since the division was created in 2004-05. Despite the departure of Tim Duncan via retirement, the Spurs remain one of the league’s premier teams, coming off a 67-15 campaign that trailed only 73-9 Golden State in the overall standings. The Pelicans’ fortunes against the Spurs over the past two seasons have been symbolic of how they’ve fared in general: New Orleans went 3-1 vs. San Antonio in 2014-15 en route to a playoff berth, but was 1-3 last season. The Pels have rarely prevailed in the Alamo City in recent years, but games in the Crescent City have always been competitive, even in defeat.
What’s new in San Antonio
Duncan retired in predictably understated fashion, but the Spurs moved quickly to sign Pau Gasol to a two-year contract. San Antonio also added past All-Star power forward David Lee, who may ostensibly take over the role previously occupied by David West (signed with Golden State). It’s not easy to crack Gregg Popovich’s rotation as a young player, but the Spurs received praise for landing guard Dejounte Murray with the No. 29 overall draft pick, a player many believed had the potential to be a lottery selection. Along with the departures of Duncan and West, versatile Spurs reserve Boris Diaw was traded to Utah, while massive backup center Boban Marjanovic signed with Detroit.
Other 2016-17 games between these two teams
Saturday, Oct. 29, New Orleans at San Antonio (NBA TV)
Sunday, Dec. 18, New Orleans at San Antonio
Friday, Jan. 27, San Antonio at New Orleans
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