Suffice to say Dejounte Murray enjoyed his first game in a New Orleans Pelicans uniform a lot more than his long-awaited second.
Boos rained down from a large and initially lively Thanksgiving eve crowd as they watched the Toronto Raptors 鈥� a team that came in winless in 10 road games 鈥� take a 34-point lead in the second half.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e not embarrassed and really mad about this, that鈥檚 a problem,鈥� Murray said after New Orleans' 119-93 loss on Wednesday night extended its losing streak to six games.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not really about the loss, (but) how we lost in front of our fans,鈥� Murray continued. "Like, even the fans booing 鈥� 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.鈥�
The Pelicans have looked star crossed since victory over Chicago on Oct. 23. With Zion Williamson and other starters still in the lineup, they managed to start 2-0.
Since then, injuries have struck the top eight players in the Pelicans' rotation and New Orleans has lost 15 of 17 to drop to 4-15 overall in the highly competitive Western Conference.
Injuries to Murray, Williamson (left hamstring), Brandon Ingram (right calf), CJ McCollum (right adductor) Herb Jones (right shoulder), Trey Murphy III (left knee bruise), Jose Alvarado (left hamstring) and Jordan Hawkins (back) have taken a toll.
Murray missed 17 games before his , one game after McCollum had come back from a 13-game absence. Williamson, Ingram, Murphy, Jones and Alvarado all remained out of the lineup.
鈥淲hen you鈥檝e got guys in, guys out, guys in, guys out, it鈥檚 really tough," Murray said. "But I think it鈥檚 not tough to compete.
鈥淵ou can't get punked. You can't get pushed around,鈥� Murray added. "Tonight, it was just disgusting. We鈥檝e got to compete. We鈥檝e got to play harder, no matter who鈥檚 on the floor.鈥�
Murray was unsurprisingly rusty, missing his first seven shots before finishing with 14 points. McCollum scored 19 points. But that wasn't nearly enough to compensate for what coach Willie Green and McCollum suggested was soft defense against Toronto.
The Raptors arrived in New Orleans last in the NBA in 3-pointerss made per game at 10.4. They proceeded to make a season-best 21 against the Pelicans.
"Either they got better overnight, or we鈥檝e got to do a better job closing out and making it more difficult,鈥� McCollum said.
鈥淚t was a horrible showing,鈥� he added. 鈥淔rom top to bottom, we've all got to be better.鈥�
Green, the Pelicans fourth-year coach, lamented what he called 鈥渁 lack of competition.鈥�
鈥淲e allowed a team to come on our home floor and really make us look soft,鈥� Green said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what I told our group. That can鈥檛 happen.鈥�
The Pelicans have 63 games left to try to climb back into contention for at least a play-in berth. Their performance at Memphis on Friday night will show how serious they are about turning things around.
Players were given part of Thursday off to spend the holiday with family before taking a short flight to Memphis on Thursday night.
鈥淎s soon as we get on that plane, we got to lock in to understanding what just happened,鈥� Murray said. "You don鈥檛 want bad habits to carry over.鈥�
While McCollum stressed that injuries have made it 鈥渉ard to establish rhythms and rotations," he described the latest loss as "just a bad game that we can鈥檛 have.鈥�
鈥淭ime is ticking," McCollum continued. "And it isn鈥檛 getting any easier.鈥�
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AP NBA:
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AP NBA:
Brett Martel, The Associated Press
