Over the past decade, there have been plenty of instances where New Orleans basketball fans entered a season with great optimism about their favorite team, but that enthusiasm was dampened just a week or two into the 82-game schedule. Since rebranding as the Pelicans in 2013-14, the club has endured costly starts of 0-6, 0-8 and 0-4, for example, and only once sported a winning record through six games. The 2018-19 club began that campaign 4-0, but then immediately lost six consecutive games and was 15-19 by Christmas.
That’s one reason why the Pelicans’ 4-2 start to 2020-21 has been relatively unique, featuring victories over Toronto (twice), San Antonio and Oklahoma City.