The New Orleans Pelicans extended their losing streak to four with the 118-104 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Trey Murphy III continues to return to form with a 22-point first half and finishes the evening with 35 points, but none of that matters as the Pelicans just couldn’t string the stops together.
During the early stages of the 2025 offseason, I talked a lot about how this team lacked defensive talent outside of Herb Jones, as even Jose Alvarado is limited on that side of the ball due to his size. The additions of Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey and Derik Queen have certainly boosted this team’s offensive production, but none of that matters if you can’t get stops. And on Friday night, it became clearer than ever that this group’s inability to defend on the perimeter is the main thing keeping them from becoming a real force in the Western Conference.
Luka Dončić scored this team on Friday night with 20 points and nine dimes in the first half. Every time he beat Jones, or every time Jones wasn’t on the court, it was a free basket. The only time anyone not named Herb Jones stopped Dončić defensively was by fouling him, which only hurt the team more when he shot 9-13 from the charity stripe.
Willie Green can’t be blamed for everything…
While I still think this team needs a change in the form of parting ways with head coach Willie Green, it’s not his fault that no one on this team can guard.
With each game I see more and more that while Green seems to be in way over his head as a coach and leader of this team, Joe Dumars wasn’t exactly doing him any favors with the moves he was making. When signing Kevon Looney is not only the team’s only big free agency move, but also their best defensive addition, it becomes easier to understand why they are now 2-10.
A coach can only work with what he has, and every night it becomes clearer how little Willie Green has to work with. Of course, things like starting Kevon Looney, who is a minus-58 Friday’s match will get past Derik Queen, who has been on fire lately, on Green, but things like continued poor performances in defense are not.
While many of us thought that if the Pelicans fired Willie Green and brought in a new voice it could help turn the season around, Friday night’s loss to LA proved that roster changes can be just as necessary as a coaching change.
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