1) New Orleans (29-41) is suddenly heating up, beating Minnesota 123-109 last night for its fourth victory in the last five games.
2) Watch postgame reaction from Alvin Gentry, Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday and Jordan Crawford.
3) The Pelicans are now 4.5 games out of eighth place in the Western Conference, with three head-to-head games remaining vs. No. 8 Denver. However, Portland is also 3.5 games ahead of New Orleans, while Dallas holds a 1.5-game edge. The Pelicans have a total of five games remaining against that trio of teams and will almost certainly need to sweep those to stay in the playoff conversation.