The New Orleans Pelicans have opened the season with three straight losses, and while the games have been close enough to keep some optimism alive, the early returns have also exposed a few problems that go beyond the late-game struggles everyone has already talked about.
The clutch-time issues are the loudest concern, but they are not the only ones. There are several other trends that should already have New Orleans uneasy.
One of the biggest questions is how Trey Murphy is being used. His first two games were rough, and even after a strong start against the Denver Nuggets, he faded again when the game tightened up.
In fact, one of the most striking numbers from the Pelicans’ clutch plan so far is that Murphy had one shot over 17 minutes. The offense has bogged down, and he has too often been left out of it.
That said, this is not a case of Murphy needing to suddenly become a different player. He is still shooting over 40% from three and just scored 26 points.
He came out aggressive against Denver, and that kind of approach needs to stick. The larger issue is that the offense as a whole still lacks cohesion.
Shooting has been another problem. Outside of Murphy and Bey, the Pelicans simply have not gotten enough efficient volume from the perimeter.
Dejounte Murray and Jordan Poole are both taking more than four threes a game, but each is shooting just 23.1%. That was a concern when the roster was built, and it is already showing up in the results.
As a team, New Orleans is shooting 30.9% from three, which ranks 21st in the NBA, while taking 31.3 attempts per game, good for 29th. There is reason to think that number could improve if Murray, Poole and Jeremiah Fears get closer to their career marks, but that alone may not solve the problem.
The ball movement has been shaky too. The Pelicans are at least making 36.5% of their catch-and-shoot threes, which is closer to league average, but they are only generating 21.0 of those attempts per game. They need to create cleaner looks for their shooters, and those shooters need to cash them in.
Bennedict Mathurin has also been a tough fit so far. At the time, the move was confusing for reasons beyond the money, though the front office clearly liked the value and the upside. An $8 million deal can make sense on other teams, but New Orleans may have needed a different kind of player.
His minutes, at least in theory, would probably be better used by a stronger shooter, but the Pelicans do not really have that option. Mathurin did shoot a career-best 37.2% on 5.6 attempts with the Indiana Pacers last season, but that level of production has not carried over after the trade. Through this start, he is just 1-for-9 and sitting at an overall -13.
There has also been a problem on the glass that shows up after the rebound itself. New Orleans has actually held up reasonably well overall in defensive rebounding, ranking 16th in defensive rebound percentage.
But when opponents do grab offensive boards, they have been highly efficient at turning them into second-chance points. That has been a major factor in the past two losses, and it has magnified the Pelicans’ biggest concern: the loss of Yves Missi’s impact on their defensive potential in the paint.
In Other News...
Jokis Postgame Frustration Put Nuggets Fans On Edge After Comeback Win
The Pelicans watched Denver dig itself into a deep first-half hole, with the Nuggets trailing by more than 20 points before turning the game around and escaping with an overtime win. It was the kind of comeback that usually settles a building down, but the atmosphere had already turned tense when the home crowd started booing during the early deficit.
Nikola Joki did little to cool that edge afterward, making clear he noticed the reaction and was bothered by it. With his future beyond this season still not fully settled, the Nuggets star has said he wants to stay, but nights like this only sharpen the scrutiny around how Denvers top player feels about the environment around him. [Read more 🡒]
Former Pelicans Defensive Spark Gets A New Chance Worth Watching
The Thunder made a roster move this week after Otega Oweh was waived following a torn Achilles tendon in the preseason, and the opening was filled by a familiar name for Pelicans followers. Oklahoma City turned to Micah Peavy on a two-way contract, giving the former second-round pick another chance to carve out a role in the league.
Peavy spent last season in New Orleans, where he got into 61 games and showed the kind of defensive energy that can keep a young player in the mix. For the Pelicans, it is another reminder of how quickly those back-end roster pieces can move, especially when a player who had already flashed in New Orleans gets an opportunity elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Keep Crumbling Late And The Biggest Reason Is Growing Clear
The early-season scorecard has been ugly for New Orleans, and the concern goes well beyond an 0-3 start. What has stood out most is how much the Pelicans have leaked in the final five minutes of close games, where their numbers have fallen apart and the group has yet to find a reliable way to close things out. For a team built around trying to stay competitive deep into games, those late stretches are turning into a recurring problem instead of a small sample blip.
Zion Williamson and Dejounte Murray have been the focal points in those moments, and the results have not matched the burden they are carrying. New coach Jamahl Mosley has said he is looking at the season in five-game batches before making any major decisions, which gives the Pelicans a little runway to sort out what is going wrong. Still, the longer the clutch struggles linger, the harder it gets to ignore how sharply the final minutes have tilted against them. [Read more 🡒]