The New Orleans Pelicans got overwhelmed again Friday night, dropping a 145-111 NBA Cup game to the Memphis Grizzlies and sinking to 0-2 in the event and 4-9 overall.
This was not just another loss. It was another ugly chapter in a stretch that has already gone off the rails. The Pelicans’ last three-game run was the worst in franchise history, and swapping in this defeat for the loss to the Los Angeles Clippers made it the second-worst three-game stretch in NBA history, trailing only the Charlotte Hornets in February of last year.
Dejounte Murray’s trade request became public on Friday, and it appears he has played his last basketball for New Orleans. But that news did nothing to solve a roster that has been broken in more than one place.
The injuries have helped drag the team into this mess, with Trey Murphy, Yves Missi and Trendon Watford all sidelined. Even so, the problems go beyond who is available. This group simply is not built to survive nights when the basics go missing.
That was obvious against Memphis. New Orleans needed to protect the rim and get to the free-throw line more than its opponent. Instead, the Grizzlies shot 18-of-45 from three, and the Pelicans never had a path to keeping up.
The bench was especially rough. New Orleans’ reserves managed only 27 points, while Memphis got 76 from its second unit. That gap helped turn the game into a blowout long before the final buzzer.
Karlo Matkovic, who had looked strong during a recent starting stretch, has now hit a rough patch. He was moved back to the bench in this one and finished with one point and three rebounds in 19 minutes, along with a -24 plus-minus.
Jamahl Mosley went with DeAndre Jordan in the starting lineup, and Jordan was the only Pelican to finish with a positive plus-minus at +5. The move underscored how much this team could use a stronger interior presence, which is part of why Yves Missi’s return matters so much.
Matkovic still has a place on this roster. His ability to stretch the floor gives Zion Williamson something valuable to work with, even if he remains a work in progress.
But the biggest issue remains the same: the defense has now allowed at least 138 points in four straight games. That was supposed to be the team’s strength. Right now, it has become the league’s worst.
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Pelicans Skid Is Raising Doubts About Everything They Thought They Fixed
For a brief stretch, the Pelicans looked as if they had steadied themselves. A four-game winning streak suggested the group had started to clean up the issues that had dogged it earlier, and the tone around the team changed with it. Then came four straight losses, and the mood shifted just as quickly, with head coach Jamahl Mosley acknowledging after a lopsided defeat that both ends of the floor have become a problem again.
The slide has been especially jarring because the numbers point to familiar breakdowns resurfacing at the worst possible time. New Orleans has struggled to defend with the same edge it showed during the winning streak, and the decline has been tied to defensive rebounding and turnovers, two areas that tend to expose a teams focus and discipline. For a club trying to prove it had fixed more than it had merely covered up, the recent skid has reopened a question it cannot afford to leave hanging for long. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Suddenly Face A Dejounte Murray Problem They Can't Ignore
Dejounte Murrays situation has quickly become one of the more delicate issues around the Pelicans, and it comes at a time when the team would rather be focused on settling into the season. Murray has been ruled out of an upcoming game because of injury, but the bigger concern is the sense that his current situation in New Orleans has already become unsettled. Even without a formal public resolution, the tension is obvious enough to make this more than a routine roster note.
Phoenix has emerged as a team to watch, with interest in Murray already circulating as the Pelicans and his agency work toward a solution. Any potential path would likely require real moving pieces, and Jalen Green has been viewed as the most plausible salary match in a theoretical framework. For now, nothing official has been confirmed, but the fact that this conversation is happening at all says plenty about how quickly Murrays standing has changed. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Frustration Just Spilled Into A Bigger Dejounte Murray Debate
Dejounte Murrays frustration with the Pelicans rough start has spilled into the open, and then some. After a poor opening stretch and a recent loss, the veteran guard took to social media to vent about the teams early-season issues, only to delete the posts later. It was the kind of public flare-up that tends to grab attention in New Orleans, especially when it comes from a player expected to help steady the backcourt and settle things down.
Zion Williamson also weighed in after the loss, underscoring how quickly the mood around the team has turned. With the Pelicans set to face the Memphis Grizzlies next, the bigger question is no longer just about the record. It is about whether the frustration bubbling around the roster becomes a one-night distraction or a sign of deeper problems that the team has to sort out on the fly. [Read more 🡒]