Dejounte Murray's explosive 35-point performance fuels the New Orleans Pelicans' surge, but they ended up falling 107-105 to the Houston Rockets.
Though the New Orleans Pelicans lost Friday night's game against the Houston Rockets 107-105, they have continued to show they are a different team with a healthy lineup.
The Pelicans drop to 22-46 on the year, but the record is not important at this point. They still want to pick up wins, but only to further worsen the odds of their pick landing the Atlanta Hawks in the top four and build momentum for next season.
While many expected a bit of a rebuild after this year's horrid start, this team is making a case to run it back next season with a healthy start. James Borrego has done enough to earn a serious look at the full-time job, and the starting unit has looked good.
Dejounte Murray, in particular, has been a revelation. He has looked even better than he did when he was healthy last year. Murray led all scorers in this game with 35 points to go with seven rebounds, four assists and a steal.
This was the most points he's scored in a New Orleans uniform and his most since March of 2024. If it wasn't clear that he's fully healthy before this game, it certainly is now.
Entering this game, he was a +14.8 net rating, and that has surely gone even higher. The defense with both him and Herb Jones on the court together has been much better, and his offense has been a surprising plus.
Murray's contract and health history already made it pretty hard to move him at the deadline. Perhaps they can just keep him and look to build off the end of this year.
Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen have looked better overall since moving to the bench. They clearly have a way to go before being ready for a starting role on a winning team, but they can still contribute to winning in these roles.
Had Saddiq Bey not had an uncharacteristically off night, finishing with his fewest points since November, they likely would have ended up beating this team, which is the four-seed in the West.
The Pelicans will have two days off before beginning a four-game home stand against the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night.