Tony Jones: Pelicans amazingly continue to thrive after Cousins’ season-ending injury

The Western Conference standings are so bunched up that a good week can put you in position to get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs and a bad one can put you in 10th place.

So for the eight teams not named the Golden State Warriors or Houston Rockets that are vying for the postseason, there is no margin for error with a little more than four weeks remaining in the regular season.

I don’t know what’s ultimately going to happen to the New Orleans Pelicans. But this is a team that deserves a bunch of credit. New Orleans isn’t supposed to be 38-27 at this point, especially after losing All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins for the rest of the season to a torn Achilles. It’s a team that starts Rajon Rondo at point guard, relies on onetime Jazzman Ian Clark for significant minutes and currently starts Emeka Okafor, who’s 35 years old and last played in the NBA in 2013, at center.

And yet the Pelicans are in the fourth spot in the West. They’ve taken an impossible situation and thrived, winning 10 straight before losing Friday night to the Wizards, and beating the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers on the road in the process. They’ve defied all odds after Cousins went down.

One simple question: How?

First, New Orleans general manager Dell Demps traded a first-round pick to the Chicago Bulls for Nikola Mirotic, the 6-foot-10 stretch power forward who wanted out of Chicago the moment Bobby Portis broke his face with a punch.

Surrendering a first-rounder in a talent-rich draft wasn’t a popular move. It was a significant gamble for Demps, but it has paid off. Mirotic, who was on the Jazz’s radar before the trade deadline, has settled into New Orleans’ rotation and made a big contribution.

The Pelicans remade themselves on the fly. Star forward Anthony Davis has played at an MVP level, averaging 35 points and almost 14 rebounds in his past 11 games. Jrue Holiday continues to be one of the most underrated players in the league, setting up others and playing great defense while also scoring. And Rondo’s quietly having himself a terrific season.

Demps and Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry both deserve kudos. This team could have surrendered when Cousins went down. But instead of faltering, Demps didn’t quit on his roster. And Gentry has made a lot of good moves. When Mirotic arrived in New Orleans, Gentry instantly put him in the starting lineup but realized that wasn’t going to work because Davis doesn’t like playing center. Mirotic fits better coming off the bench, bringing the second unit scoring punch.

So Gentry put Okafor into the starting lineup. The second pick of the 2004 NBA draft has rebounded the ball and provided rim protection in spot minutes, which is exactly what the Pelicans have needed.

More importantly, the Pelicans know who they are and who they aren’t. They know defense isn’t their strong suit — so they try to outscore people. New Orleans scored at least 110 points in every game of its win streak.

The Pelicans have a bunch of shooters surrounding Davis and Rondo. Holiday is capable of getting to the rim at will. The result has been the best offense in the NBA over the past month.

Whether it can last certainly is debatable. The schedule for New Orleans is difficult down the stretch. But the Pelicans have been so good that they’ve given themselves a belief that they can withstand anything and make the postseason.

The entire organization deserves credit. Demps took a gamble that’s paying off with the Mirotic trade. Gentry has shown his maturation as a coach. Davis has proven himself a franchise player and thrust himself into the MVP conversation.

And now New Orleans is accomplishing what many thought was impossible by thriving without one of its best players.