The New Orleans Pelicans’ 2026-27 schedule gives Jamahl Mosley a clear runway, and the first stretch could matter a lot. New Orleans opens the season Oct. 21 at the Smoothie King Center against the Indiana Pacers, kicking off Mosley’s first year after five seasons as head coach of the Orlando Magic.
That matters because the Pelicans are trying to climb back to the playoffs after missing the postseason in each of the last two years. Last season’s 26-56 finish sent Willie Green out after 12 games, and Mosley inherits a roster that looks almost unchanged from the one that struggled a year ago. Whether his defensive approach can change the direction of the team won’t really be answered until April, but the schedule already lays out the path.
And the early path is worth watching. The Pelicans have been stuck in slow-start territory for years, with the last above-.500 mark after 10 games coming in 2014-15, when they started 6-4.
Since then, the starts have been rough, including last season’s 2-8 opening. This time, the first 10 games are relatively friendly: only four come against playoff teams from last season, with Denver twice, Atlanta and Minnesota on the list.
If New Orleans is going to build something, this is the spot to do it.
The national spotlight is still almost completely absent. The Pelicans had 30 nationally televised games in 2019, when Zion Williamson arrived and the league expected New Orleans to be a draw.
Last season, they got two. This season, it’s two again, and both are tied to the Spurs games in Europe - Jan. 14 in Paris and Jan. 17 in Manchester, England.
It’s also the sixth straight season New Orleans has missed out on a Christmas Day game. The only way back into that conversation is simple: win.
The grind is real, too. The Pelicans have 16 back-to-backs, one more than last season, when they went 4-11 on the second night of consecutive games.
January offers a little relief with just one back-to-back, but five of the 16 require travel between games. The roughest comes late in the season: they host the Washington Wizards and then travel to Denver the next night.
There are also some punishing stretches baked into the calendar. The longest road swing runs seven games from Jan.
20-Feb. 10.
Even tougher is the January run that starts in Miami - which now has Giannis Antetokounmpo - then jumps to Europe for the two Spurs games before bringing New Orleans back home to face Oklahoma City, Dallas, Cleveland, Houston, Philadelphia, Cleveland again and Philadelphia again.
Holiday plans are set, at least for fans who like them in the arena. The Pelicans are home on Halloween against the Atlanta Hawks, on New Year’s Eve against the Los Angeles Lakers and on Valentine’s Day against the Los Angeles Clippers.
That Clippers game also lands on Super Bowl Sunday. And there’s another wrinkle: the Pelicans and Saints are scheduled for the same date four times this season, or five if the Saints make the Super Bowl.
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Pelicans Get An Early Test Jamahl Mosley Couldnt Have Picked
The NBAs full 2026-27 schedule is out, and it hands New Orleans an immediate measuring stick in Jamahl Mosleys first season on the bench. The Pelicans kept most of their roster intact, which should give Mosley a familiar core to work with right away, but the first night also sends them straight into a matchup that will say plenty about where this group stands after the long offseason.
New Orleans opens on the road against Indiana, a team that can test a defense in a hurry if its backcourt is right. Much of the early conversation around the game centers on Tyrese Haliburtons health and what that means for the Pacers pace and creativity, along with the key individual battles the Pelicans will have to manage from the opening tip. For Mosley, it is about as sharp a first exam as he could have drawn up, and the answer will not wait long. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Left Zion With The Same Problem They Still Havent Fixed
The Pelicans brought back veteran center DeAndre Jordan on a two-year deal and otherwise kept the offseason quiet, even after spending time in multiple trade conversations. For a team trying to sharpen its identity around Zion Williamson and Derrick Queen, the lack of broader roster movement leaves the same basic question hanging over the group: how much easier can this offense get to watch when the floor is still crowded?
New Orleans remained near the bottom of the league last season in both three-point attempts and makes, a problem that has lingered long enough to shape how opponents defend them. Without meaningful upgrades to shooting or spacing, the coaching staff is still left trying to solve a familiar puzzle, and the front offices low-key approach suggests the burden of making it work may fall on the same roster that has struggled to fix it before. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Get An Early NBA Cup Test Fans Wont Ignore
The NBA Cup is already giving Pelicans fans something to circle on the calendar, even before the full 2026 schedule comes into focus. New Orleans announced its four tournament games for November, setting up a run of matchups against Minnesota, Memphis, Oklahoma City and the Los Angeles Clippers as the league continues to put added weight behind its in-season event.
For a fan base that likes to know where the stress points are going to be, this is at least a useful preview of what awaits in the early part of the season. The dates are now in place, the opponents are known, and the rest of the schedule will simply fill in the details around a stretch that already looks like a real test for the Pelicans. [Read more 🡒]