The Pelicans were blown out by the Raptors on Wednesday in Dejounte Murray‘s return from a fractured hand. Murray and his teammates left the court humiliated with their season at a crossroads. Their fans turned on them during the 119-93 loss and Murray couldn’t blame them.
“If you’re not embarrassed and really mad about this, that’s a problem,” Murray said, per Brett Martel of the Associated Press. “It’s not really about the loss, (but) how we lost in front of our fans, Like, even the fans booing — I mean, what would you do if you was a fan paying your money? You want to come watch a competitive basketball game, especially from your home team. So, they got all the rights to say what they want, feel how they feel. They deserve a better game.”
Entering the season, the Pelicans looked like a contender with Murray, acquired in a trade with Atlanta, joining a lineup that included Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram, along with proven role players Trey Murphy, Herbert Jones and Jose Alvarado.
Injuries have left them scrambling the first two months of the season. They have lost six straight and 15 of their last 17. Williamson, Ingram, Murphy, Jones and Alvarado remain sidelined but Murray says the compete level must rise, no matter who is available. Toronto came into New Orleans winless on the road.
“When you’ve got guys in, guys out, guys in, guys out, it’s really tough,” said Murray, who finished with 14 points after missing his first seven field goal attempts. “But I think it’s not tough to compete. You can’t get punked. You can’t get pushed around. Tonight, it was just disgusting. We’ve got to compete. We’ve got to play harder, no matter who’s on the floor.”
It’s fair to wonder whether changes might be coming soon, either to the roster or the coaching staff. Head coach Willie Green knows a quick turnaround is needed if his team wants to get back in the postseason picture.
“Starting with me, we have to be better,” Willie Green said, according to Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times Picayune. “That was a lack of competition. We allowed a team to come on our home floor and make us look soft. That’s what I told our group. That can’t happen.”
Toronto shot 49.5 percent from the field and had 38 assists on 47 made baskets.
“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. From top to bottom, we’ve all got to be better.”
New Orleans now heads out on a three-game road swing with stops in Memphis, New York and Atlanta.
Pelicans team was put together like some NBA 2k player.
Just a bunch of names but they have no chemistry.