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The 2017–18 New Orleans Pelicans season was the 16th season of the New Orleans Pelicans franchise in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Pelicans were coached by Alvin Gentry in his third year as head coach. They played their home games at the Smoothie King Center as members of the Western Conference's Southwest Division.

The team's second-leading scorer, DeMarcus Cousins, suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon injury during his subsequent final game as a Pelican on January 26, 2018, and missed the remainder of the season. Despite losing Cousins, the Pelicans clinched their first playoff berth since 2015 with a win over the Los Angeles Clippers on April 9, 2018. They finished the season 48–34 to finish in second place in the Southwest Division.

In the Playoffs, the Pelicans faced off against the third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers in the First Round. On April 14, 2018, the Pelicans won the first game in the First Round playoff series which marked the franchise's first playoff game win since the 2011 playoffs' First Round series against the Los Angeles Lakers. On April 21, the Pelicans completed the playoff series sweep over the Trail Blazers, marking the franchise's first series win since 2008. It also marked the first playoff series sweep in franchise history, and the first time that a team seeded sixth or lower had swept a First Round series since the NBA had expanded the First Round to a best-of-seven series. They advanced to the conference semifinals to face the second-seeded and defending champion and eventual NBA champion Golden State Warriors, the team that swept them in the First Round of the 2015 playoffs and were also champions that year. The Pelicans lost the series in five games and were eliminated from the playoffs.

Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College / Club
2	31	Frank Jackson	PG	United States	Duke

Prior to the NBA draft, the Pelicans had only one second round pick, having traded their first-round pick, rookie Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, and the Philadelphia 76ers' original second round pick to the Sacramento Kings in a blockbuster trade for star center DeMarcus Cousins and Omri Casspi. On June 21, 2017, however, the Pelicans acquired the Washington Wizards' second round pick (No. 52 overall) in exchange for guard Tim Frazier. As a result, the Pelicans entered draft night with two second round and no first-round picks. On the night of the draft, the Pelicans traded away their second round pick (No. 40 overall) and cash considerations to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for the Hornets' second round pick (No. 31 overall). With that pick, the Pelicans selected Duke point guard Frank Jackson. With the No. 52 overall pick, the Pelicans selected Xavier point guard Edmond Sumner and traded him to the Indiana Pacers for cash considerations.

Roster

Standings

Division

Conference

Game log

Preseason

Regular season

Playoffs

Player statistics

Regular season

After all games.
Waived during the season
Traded during the season
Acquired during the season

Transactions

Trades

Free agency

Re-signed

Additions

Player	Signed	Former team
Tony Allen	1-year contract worth $2.3 million	Memphis Grizzlies
Ian Clark	1-year contract worth $1.6 million	Golden State Warriors
Charles Cooke	Two-way contract	Dayton Flyers
Jalen Jones	Two-way contract	Maine Red Claws
Darius Miller	2-year contract worth $4.3 million	Brose Bamberg
Rajon Rondo	1-year contract worth $3.3 million	Chicago Bulls
Mike James	Two-way contract	Phoenix Suns
Emeka Okafor	Signed two 10-day contracts / 1-year deal	Delaware 87ers
Walter Lemon Jr.	Signed a 10-day contract	Fort Wayne Mad Ants

Subtractions

Player	Reason left	New team
Quinn Cook	Waived	Atlanta Hawks
Axel Toupane	Waived	Žalgiris Kaunas
Donatas Motiejūnas	Unrestricted free agent	Shandong Golden Stars
Hollis Thompson	Unrestricted free agent	Olympiacios Piraeus
Jalen Jones	Waived	Dallas Mavericks / Texas Legends
Mike James	Waived	Panathinaikos Athens

Awards, records and milestones

Awards

Records

Season

• Anthony Davis set franchise records in:
  • Most blocks in a game
    • 10 in a loss against the Utah Jazz on March 11, 2018
  • Most blocks in a half
    • 6 – tied his own franchise mark on the same day.
  • Field goals in a season (780)
  • Points in a season (2,110)
  • Points per game (28.1)
• DeMarcus Cousins set a franchise record in:
  • Defensive rebound percentage in a season (30.9%)
• Rajon Rondo set franchise records in:
  • Most assists in a game
    • 25 in a win against the Brooklyn Nets on December 27, 2017.
  • Most assists in a quarter
    • 9 in a win against the Detroit Pistons on January 8, 2018, tying a franchise record.

Playoffs

• Anthony Davis set a franchise record in:
  • Most points in a playoff game
    • 47 in Game 4 against the Portland Trail Blazers.
• Rajon Rondo tied a franchise record in:
  • Most assists in a playoff game
    • 17 in Game 1 against the Portland Trail Blazers. Tied the record with Chris Paul.

Milestones

• On November 22, 2017, Anthony Davis reached 7,938 career points, moving him to second in points scored in franchise history after passing Chris Paul.
• On January 18, 2018, both Davis and DeMarcus Cousins were selected as NBA All-Star starters, which marked the first time since 2009 that multiple New Orleans players have been selected to the All-Star game. It was also the first time in franchise history that multiple players have started the All-Star game.
• On January 28, 2018, Davis reached 3,857 career rebounds, giving him the all-time franchise high in rebounds after passing David West.
• On February 2, 2018, Davis passed David West in points scored, giving him the all-time franchise high with 8,702.
• The Pelicans finished second in the Southwest Division, which was the highest since the 2007–08 season.
• The Pelicans finished first in the league in:
  • Total minutes played in a season (19,995)
  • Minutes played per game (243.4)

Playoffs

• The Pelicans clinched their first playoff berth since 2015.
• On April 14, 2018, the Pelicans won the first game in the First Round playoff series which marked the franchise's first playoff game win since the 2011 NBA playoffs.
• On April 21, 2018, the Pelicans completed the playoff series sweep over the Portland Trail Blazers, marking the franchise's first series win since 2008. It was also the first playoff series sweep in franchise history, and the first time that a team seeded sixth or lower had swept a First Round series since the NBA had expanded the First Round to a best-of-seven series.

References

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2. "New Orleans Pelicans earn second postseason berth in five seasons". USA TODAY. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
3. "NBA playoffs: Pelicans hold off Trail Blazers 97-95 in Game 1". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
4. "Anthony Davis, Pelicans steal Game 1 in Portland". SBNation.com. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
5. "Brooms out: Pelicans sweep Portland, 1st playoff series win in a decade". WGNO. April 22, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
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7. "No. 6 seed Pelicans make NBA playoff history with first-round sweep of Trail Blazers". USA TODAY. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
8. "Pelicans face the Golden State Warriors in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals: Live updates". nola.com. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
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28. "Hawks Sign Point Guard Quinn Cook". NBA.com. September 6, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
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31. ^ "LeBron James, Stephen Curry voted as captains for NBA All-Star Game". ESPN. January 18, 2018. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
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48. "New Orleans Pelicans Stats - Per Game (Totals)". Basketball Reference. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
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• New Orleans Pelicans seasons
• 2017–18 NBA season by team
• 2017 in sports in Louisiana
• 2018 in sports in Louisiana