The New Orleans Pelicans walked out of Utah with another one-possession loss, dropping a 120-119 decision to the Jazz after Dejounte Murray’s mid-range try at the buzzer came up a little strong and hit the back iron.
It was the kind of game that left room for a few different reactions. There were bright spots.
There were stretches that felt familiar in the wrong way. And there was one injury twist that changes the mood of the whole thing.
Saddiq Bey was the cleanest positive for New Orleans. After his 42-point eruption in Utah last season, he looked right at home again at the Delta Center, finishing with 20 points, three rebounds, and one assist while shooting 8-of-12 off the bench.
In a game where the Pelicans kept leaning on transition because the half-court offense never really settled, Bey gave them a shot of life every time he touched the ball. The baseline postups worked, the pull-up and off-the-catch threes were falling, and the drives were sharp enough to keep the offense from bogging down completely.
Zion Williamson’s night landed in the middle category: encouraging, but also frustrating in a way that felt all too recognizable. He didn’t come out blazing, but he found his rhythm in the second half and finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and three steals on 8-of-13 shooting and 7-of-8 from the line.
The flashes were there, including some defensive playmaking that added a little something new. Still, he took just 13 shots, and that number tells the story.
There simply wasn’t enough space around him to unlock the kind of damage he could have done.
The Jazz were not an elite defense, and this could have been a much bigger scoring night for Zion. But with no real perimeter gravity around him and Trey Murphy III not looking right, Utah never had to give much respect to New Orleans shooters.
The defense could pack the paint and stay home. On one of the final possessions, that problem showed up in full view: Murray drove, kicked to Zion on the perimeter, and Zion attacked into a wall of four Jazz defenders.
The reason was simple enough. Utah knew he wasn’t going to let it fly from deep in that moment, and there weren’t shooters nearby to make them pay for collapsing.
That gets to the bigger issue with the Pelicans’ roster as it stands. They keep saying they want to win with Zion, but the way this group is built doesn’t make his life easier. Too many of the pieces fit the same areas of the floor, and not enough of them force defenses to stretch out.
And then came the part that stings the most: the health of Yves Missi. Just when it seemed like New Orleans had found some stability at center, that took a hit. Karlo Matkovic stepped in and brought energy with solid minutes, but he is not Missi.
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The Pelicans rough opening stretch took another hit in a 120-119 loss to the Jazz, a defeat that again saw them enter the fourth quarter with a lead and fail to finish it off. New Orleans has now let a game slip away in the same way in back-to-back nights, and the frustration only deepened when center Yves Missi went down in the second quarter with a left knee injury and was helped to the locker room.
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Zion Trade Idea Puts The Pelicans At A Franchise Crossroads
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For the Pelicans, the appeal would be less about the names coming back than the chance to reset around a new structure and a cleaner financial picture. Any move of this size would force the franchise to weigh health, contract value and timeline all at once, which is why these conversations keep circling the same uncomfortable question: is New Orleans still building around Williamson, or has it reached the point where exploring a different path makes more sense? [Read more 🡒]