Pelicans open the season Wednesday against Indiana, with a 25th-season hat for the first 6,000 fans
New Orleans hosts the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. Central at the Smoothie King Center to start the regular season. Opening night brings value-priced concessions, a commemorative hat giveaway and a Red Panda halftime show, after a 3-1 preseason finish.
NEW ORLEANS: The Pelicans start the games that count on Wednesday night, when the Indiana Pacers visit the Smoothie King Center. Tipoff for the first game of the regular season is set for 7 p.m. Central on Wednesday, Oct. 21, according to the team’s opening-night announcement carried by WDSU.
The team used Monday for a final tune-up before the opener. Head coach Jamahl Mosley spoke with reporters after practice at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center on Monday, Oct. 19, ahead of the Indiana game, in a media session the Pelicans published on their official channel. Guard Dejounte Murray and Bennedict Mathurin also spoke with reporters that day, in sessions the team published the same way.
What opening night looks like in the building
The first 6,000 fans receive a commemorative hat celebrating the franchise’s 25th season in New Orleans, presented by Smoothie King, according to the announcement. The halftime show features Red Panda, performing her acrobatic bowl-flipping routine while riding a unicycle.
Concessions carry a set of value prices for the night. The announcement lists several items at 6 dollars, among them a Busch Light can, a pretzel, a nacho combination and a hot dog combination, with a small popcorn at 4 dollars and two larger combinations at 10 and 12 dollars. Other food and drink will also be on sale around the arena.
Before and during the game, the concourses on the Northeast ground level and the 100 and 300 levels will hold fan activations that include photo opportunities with the Pelicans game entertainment crew, New Orleans-themed displays, music from DJ Hollaback, balloon artists, dunk stations and a pop-a-shot game, according to the announcement.
A 3-1 preseason, and a wide-open first test
New Orleans arrives at opening night off a winning rehearsal. The Pelicans closed the preseason on Friday with a 107-106 win over the Washington Wizards at the Smoothie King Center, finishing exhibition play at 3-1, according to Crescent City Sports. Saddiq Bey led New Orleans with 19 points off the bench, rookie Jeremiah Fears added 14 points and five assists, and Trey Murphy III and Zion Williamson scored 11 points each.
Mathurin added 10 points off the bench in that finale, and rookie center Derik Queen collected seven rebounds and five assists, according to Crescent City Sports. New Orleans recorded 15 steals and 28 assists and forced 23 Washington turnovers, numbers that held up even as Washington outscored the Pelicans 36-26 in the fourth quarter. The win followed a 101-97 victory at Dallas two nights earlier.
Fans who cannot make it downtown can still watch the opener free over the air. The team’s broadcast announcement, reported by Sports Video Group, says the Oct. 21 game against Indiana airs on both FOX 8 and the Gulf Coast Sports and Entertainment Network, part of a first in franchise history: 20 regular-season games simulcast on FOX 8. The network carries 80 of the team’s 82 regular-season games, with locally televised games also streaming on Pelicans+, according to that announcement.
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