Let’s just say that Dejounte Murray had a far better time in his first game wearing a New Orleans Pelicans uniform than he did in his eagerly anticipated second.
A sizable and originally enthusiastic Thanksgiving eve audience let out boos when they witnessed the Toronto Raptors, a team that had lost their last ten road games, take a 34-point lead in the second half.
After New Orleans’ 119-93 loss on Wednesday night extended their losing record to six games, Murray stated, “If you’re not embarrassed and really mad about this, that’s a problem.”
Murray went on, “It’s not really about the loss, but how we lost in front of our fans.” What would you do if you were a fan paying for your ticket, even if the other supporters were jeering? You want to attend a basketball game that is competitive, especially if it involves your home team. They therefore have the freedom to express their opinions and feel as they like. A better game is what they deserve.
Since Murray broke his hand during an Oct. 23 opening-night victory over Chicago, the Pelicans have been looking star-crossed. They managed to get off to a 2-0 start with Zion Williamson and other starters still in the lineup.
The top eight players in the Pelicans rotation have now suffered injuries, and New Orleans has dropped to 4-15 overall in the fiercely competitive Western Conference after losing 15 of 17.
Injuries to Murray, Williamson (left hamstring), Brandon Ingram (right calf), CJ McCollum (right adductor) Herb Jones (right shoulder), Trey Murphy III (left knee bruise), Jose Alvarado (left hamstring) and Jordan Hawkins (back) have taken a toll.
Before making his comeback to the starting lineup on Wednesday, one game after McCollum’s 13-game sabbatical, Murray missed 17 games. Alvarado, Jones, Murphy, Ingram, and Williamson were all left off the roster.
“It’s really difficult when you have guys in, guys out, guys in, guys out,” Murray remarked. However, I don’t think it’s difficult to compete.
You can t get punked. Murray went on, “You can’t be pushed around.” It was just horrible tonight. Competition is essential. Regardless of who is on the floor, we must play with more intensity.
Murray was unsurprisingly rusty, missing his first seven shots before finishing with 14 points. 19 points were scored by McCollum. But that wasn t nearly enough to compensate for what coach Willie Green and McCollum suggested was soft defense against Toronto.
The Raptors arrived in New Orleans last in the NBA in 3-pointerss made per game at 10.4. They proceeded to make a season-best 21 against the Pelicans.
Either they got better overnight, or we ve got to do a better job closing out and making it more difficult, McCollum said.
It was a horrible showing, he added. From top to bottom, we ve all got to be better.
Green, the Pelicans fourth-year coach, lamented what he called a lack of competition.
We allowed a team to come on our home floor and really make us look soft, Green said. That s what I told our group. That can t happen.
The Pelicans have 63 games left to try to climb back into contention for at least a play-in berth. Their performance at Memphis on Friday night will show how serious they are about turning things around.
Players were given part of Thursday off to spend the holiday with family before taking a short flight to Memphis on Thursday night.
As soon as we get on that plane, we got to lock in to understanding what just happened, Murray said. You don t want bad habits to carry over.
While McCollum stressed that injuries have made it hard to establish rhythms and rotations, he described the latest loss as just a bad game that we can t have.
Time is ticking, McCollum continued. And it isn t getting any easier.
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