New Orleans Pelicans Rise In Power Rankings Despite Three Straight Losses

The New Orleans Pelicans have opened up the 2025/2026 season with three straight losses. Those losses have been competitive, though, which is more than some 0-3 teams can say.

NBA.com's John Schuhmann released the updated power rankings on Monday, reflecting the last week of basketball. It was the first week that games were played, so there was a lot of movement. The Pelicans didn't move far, but they did go up. One spot, to be exact; now the No. 25 team in the league. While these rankings don't have any real impact, they are a helpful scale for how the team is being viewed.

The main reason that New Orleans moved up without a win is that the Golden State Warriors fell down a few slots below them. Neither team has been victorious, but the Pelicans do look to be in a slightly better spot. No one jumped above New Orleans, so they are still higher than the following teams: Warriors, Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings.

The Pelicans' numbers actually say they should be a bit higher on this list, but with three straight clutch time losses, it's hard to move them further up. 

New Orleans has a 115.8 offensive rating, which ranks ninth in the NBA. There have been moments where this team has looked great, particularly when they were building out a 23-point lead against the Denver Nuggets. The ball was flowing, the shots were falling and they were still able to get to the foul line. Getting to the charity stripe has been their biggest positive so far.

As soon as they abandoned that identity, the lead fell away and they ended up with a loss. Being able to find some consistency should be the biggest goal for this team right now. The offense was always going to need to take time, but it just hurts extra because of how these games have ended.

The defense, which also needs a ton of time, ranked 23rd with a 118.2. They rank 17th with an overall -2.4 net rating.

The biggest negative on defense has been the second-chance points they have allowed. They also are allowing a third-worst 49.8% defended field goal rate. The perimeter defense has been alright, but they are getting exposed in the paint. That was a worry with this roster construction, and now they need to improve it without Yves Missi for the foreseeable future.