Suffice it to say that Dejounte Murray enjoyed his first game in a New Orleans Pelicans uniform much more than his long-awaited second.
Boos rained down from a large and initially lively crowd on Thanksgiving Eve as they watched the visiting Toronto Raptors, a team that went winless in 10 road games, take a 34-point lead into the second half.
“If you’re not embarrassed and really angry about this, it’s a problem,” Murray said after New Orleans’ 119-93 loss on Wednesday night extended its losing streak to six games.
“It’s not really about the loss, [but] “How we lost in front of our fans,” Murray continued. “Even the fans boo, I mean what would you do if you were a paying fan? You want to come watch a competitive basketball game, especially your local team. So, they have every right to say whatever they want and feel how they feel. They deserve a better game.”
The Pelicans have seemed hapless since Murray broke his hand late in an opening night win over Chicago on Oct. 23. With Zion Williamson and other starters still in the lineup, they managed to get off to a 2-0 start.
Since then, injuries have affected the top eight players in the Pelicans’ rotation, and New Orleans has lost 15 of 17 to fall to 4-15 overall in the highly competitive Western Conference.
Injuries to Murray, Williamson (left hamstring), Brandon Ingram (right calf), CJ McCollum (right adductor), Herb Jones (right shoulder), Trey Murphy III (left knee contusion), José Alvarado (left hamstring) and Jordan Hawkins (back). ) have taken their toll.
Murray missed 17 games before his return to the lineup Wednesday, one game after McCollum returned from a 13-game absence. Williamson, Ingram, Murphy, Jones and Alvarado were left out of the lineup.
“When you have guys in, guys out, guys in, guys out, it’s really tough,” Murray said. “But I think it’s not difficult to compete.
“They can’t fool you. They can’t pressure you,” Murray added. “Tonight was just disgusting. We have to compete. We have to play harder, no matter who is on the court.”
Murray, as expected, was rusty and missed his first seven shots before finishing with 14 points. McCollum scored 19. But that wasn’t enough to offset what coach Willie Green and McCollum suggested was soft defense against Toronto.
The Raptors arrived in New Orleans last in the NBA in three-pointers made per game with 10.4. They proceeded to score a season-high 21 against the Pelicans.
“Either they got better overnight or we have to do a better job of closing things down and making it more difficult,” McCollum said.
“It was a horrible performance,” he added. “From top to bottom, we all have 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 court 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 get back into contention for at least a play-in spot. Their performance in Memphis on Friday night will show how serious they are about changing things.
“We allowed a team to come on our court and really make us look weak. That’s what I told our group. That can’t happen.”
Pelicans coach Willie Green
The players had part of Thursday off to spend the holidays with family before taking a short flight to Memphis on Thursday night.
“As soon as we get on that plane, we have to focus on understanding what just happened,” Murray said. “You don’t want bad habits to be passed on.”
While McCollum emphasized that injuries have made it “difficult to establish rhythms and rotations,” he described the latest loss as “just a bad game that we can’t have.”
“The clock is ticking,” McCollum said. “And it’s not getting any easier.”
