The New Orleans Pelicans returned to the Smoothie King Center Sunday after three consecutive double digit losses on the road.
This time, despite being short-handed, they kept it close.
It still wasn’t enough though as the Pelicans lost a 107-104 nailbiter to the Memphis Grizzlies on a night when both Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum watched from the bench.
Grizzlies’ guard Ja Morant missed one of two free throws with 6.9 seconds left to give the Pelicans one last chance. Jose Alvarado air balled a 3-pointer. Jordan Hawkins got the rebound and threw it to Kelly Olynyk, who also missed what would have been a game-tying 3-pointer.
“I loved our resiliency and our ability to stick together,” said Pelicans coach Willie Green. “After coming off a tough loss to Houston, traveling and playing back-to-back against a good Western Conference team, I loved our approach to the game tonight.”
Trey Murphy and Alvarado tried to pick up the slack in the absence of Williamson and McCollum.
Murphy led the Pelicans with 27 points and five rebounds. Alvarado scored 11 points and had a career-high 11 assists.
Murphy also provided the game’s biggest highlight in the first quarter. On the play, Murphy — with his back to the basket — leaped high and caught a Jose Alvarado pass thrown from beyond half court and finished the alley-oop with a backwards slam.
It was the start of what turned out to be a good first half for the Pelicans, who led 64-57 at halftime. Murphy scored 12 points in the half and got plenty of help from role players. Jordan Hawkins, who started, scored nine points in the half. So did rookie Antonio Reeves, who came off the bench and knocked down all three of his 3-point attempts in the first half.
But the Pels let the Grizzlies climb back into it in the third quarter, getting outscored 32-15.
Morant scored 11 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter.
One night after completing their season series and going winless in their four games against the Houston Rockets, the Pelicans also finished their season series with the Grizzlies without a win. The chances of winning this one looked bleak from the start, with Williamson and McCollum sitting out on the second night of back-to-back games.
The Pelicans (17-48) lost their fourth straight game. All four losses came against teams in the upper echelon of the Western Conference. The Pelicans’ recent skid started with a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers (currently second in the West), then consecutive losses to the Rockets (fifth in the West) and now the fourth-place Griizzlies (40-24).
“It’s part of the NBA,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “Part of being in this league, especially being in the Western Conference, there are no nights off. Pretty much everyone you’re going to face is going to be physical. They have something to play for. So for us, it doesn’t change. We have to go into it with the right mindset and the right approach.”
Rookie center Karlo Matkovic recorded his second career double double, finishing with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Yves Missi finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Pelicans’ homestand continues Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers and then Thursday against the Orlando Magic.
“There are still some things we have to clean up,” Green said. “But no argument with the effort.”
