Injuries expose the New Orleans Pelicans' vulnerability. Without key players, their offense falters, and their defense crumbles against a dominant Toronto Raptors performance.
The New Orleans Pelicans look like a completely different team when healthy. Without Trey Murphy and Dejounte Murray on Friday night, they came crashing back down to earth in a 119-106 loss to the Toronto Raptors.
After a couple of weeks of really interesting basketball, these past two losses have been the opposite. The Pelicans fall to 25-50 and could be running out of steam with just seven games left.
It was nice to see Jeremiah Fears rewarded with a start in the place of Murray, though it ended up being one of his weaker outings of the year. He could shoot the ball tonight, though that could be said about pretty much everyone.
Saddiq Bey went 3-for-6, but the team as a whole was 7-for-28. Murphy sitting out always puts a shine on this roster's need for more shooting. His absences usually mean more Jordan Hawkins and more Jordan Poole, but those two combined for 3-for-12 from deep.
The night after getting decimated by Jalen Duren, Jakob Poeltl stepped in and did the same against the Pelicans' weak frontcourt defense. Poeltl finished with 18 points on 9-of-11 from the field with 11 rebounds. Backup big Sandro Mamukelashvili had 18 points and eight boards as well.
Scottie Barnes was the real nightmare with 23 points, seven rebounds, 12 assists, two steals and three blocks while 10-of-14 from the field.
New Orleans has something that works with this healthy group of players. Nights like this just continue to show that they are far from a finished product on both offense and defense.
The Pelicans will return home on Sunday night for one of three remaining games at the Smoothie King Center, as they take on the Houston Rockets. This tough stretch of matchups is getting the best of New Orleans and it's not over yet.