James Borrego’s Pelicans Are Starting to Look Like a Team with Purpose
James Borrego isn’t just holding the clipboard in New Orleans - he’s starting to build something. And after the Pelicans’ wild 133-128 overtime win over the Houston Rockets, it’s getting harder to call him just an "interim" head coach. The label might still be there officially, but the energy, the adjustments, and the buy-in from his players are all signaling something bigger: this team is beginning to reflect his vision.
Let’s be clear - the Pelicans are still 4-10 since Borrego took over for Willie Green. That’s not the kind of record that turns heads on paper.
But dig a little deeper and you’ll see a team that’s trending in the right direction. The game plans are sharper, the rotations are more flexible, and the players are responding.
That comeback against Houston? Down 25 points.
Tied for the largest comeback in franchise history. That doesn’t happen without belief - and belief starts with the guy leading the huddle.
A Shift in Culture
Borrego’s message has been consistent from day one: build the right habits, trust the process, and play with competitive fire. And while that might sound like coach-speak, the results are starting to back it up.
More days between games have allowed for more practice time, and the improvements are showing. The Pelicans are healthier now - with Dejounte Murray still sidelined - and Borrego’s attention to detail is starting to pay dividends.
“The biggest thing is their buy-in and trust to one another and how hard they are playing,” Borrego said. “Their competitive spirit. The commitment to get better every day and stick to the process.”
That’s not just lip service. You can see it in the way the team fights through adversity.
You can hear it in the locker room. Trey Murphy put it plainly: “He has a fire about him and it really ignites our entire team.
We just get out there and try to play for him as a team and stick together.”
Leading with Adjustments - and Accountability
Borrego hasn’t been afraid to shake things up. One of his first bold moves was inserting rookie Derik Queen into the starting lineup.
And more recently, he made waves by bringing Zion Williamson off the bench - the first time in Williamson’s career he’s done so. The reasoning?
To preserve Zion’s legs for the fourth quarter, where games are won. But against Houston, Borrego didn’t even go back to Zion late.
The group on the floor had momentum, and he rode with them.
“I know they were gassed, but I kept rolling with them,” Borrego said. “That group was rolling.
Those were tough decisions. It’s going to be like this every night.
Who do you go with? That group had momentum and I tend to stay with momentum.”
That kind of decision-making takes guts. And getting a player of Zion’s stature to accept a bench role - even temporarily - speaks volumes about Borrego’s leadership. It’s not just about X’s and O’s; it’s about communication and trust.
“He’s putting the team above himself,” Borrego said of Zion. “The individual wants to start in general.
Every player I’ve been around wants to start. It was just a clear communication between the two of us.
‘Hey, what do you think? Is this the best for you, for the team?’”
That’s how you build a culture. That’s how you earn respect in a locker room.
A Team Reflecting Its City
Borrego has talked a lot about identity. And since taking over, he’s made it clear he wants this team to reflect the city it plays in - tough, resilient, and unafraid of a fight.
Before the Rockets game, the team heard from a former sniper with the New Orleans Police Department, who spoke about resilience and community. The message landed.
“I think New Orleans as a whole has been a really resilient community and I think we tried to show that on the court tonight,” Murphy said after the game. “We were down, but we didn’t give up.”
That comeback wasn’t just about scoring runs or defensive stops. It was about grit.
About refusing to fold. And it was led by Saadiq Bey, who poured in a season-high 29 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Bey, in his first year with the Pelicans, is already seeing the impact Borrego is having.
“He’s made some helluva adjustments,” Bey said. “In the game, scout and when we are going through shoot around. He’s a great mind on both ends of the floor and we really trust him.”
The Road Ahead
There’s still work to do. The Pelicans are five games out of the play-in tournament, and the hole they dug early in the season won’t be easy to climb out of.
But Thursday’s win felt like more than just a tick in the win column. It felt like a turning point - a game that could galvanize a group that’s starting to believe in its potential.
“Obviously it helps give us some more mojo and motivation to keep it going,” Bey said. “If we play together for a 48-minute stretch, we can compete with anybody.”
Borrego isn’t looking in the rearview mirror. He’s focused on the now - on building something sustainable.
“We’re past that,” he said. “We’re building identity.
It’s about now. The past is the past.
We don’t sit there and say ‘woe is us.’ There is a lot of season ahead of us and I look forward to growing with this group.
Tonight I think we took a major step forward. The goal is to keep our foot on the gas.”
One month in, and the Pelicans are starting to look like a team with direction. The wins aren’t piling up just yet, but the foundation is being laid. And if they keep playing with this kind of heart, James Borrego might not be “interim” much longer.