Jamahl Mosley Says Pelicans 'Got Hit In The Mouth Twice,' Now Awaits Their Response

The New Orleans Pelicans are coming off of as embarrassing a two-game stretch as they have seen in the past two sub-30-win seasons.

The first game was a 16-point loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, who had lost seven straight going into the night. That disappointment carried through to the next night, in a game that no one gave them a chance to win, and they still found a way to underperform. The Golden State Warriors beat them by 51 points, the worst loss in regular season history for the franchise. 

The team desperately needs to put these past two games behind them as they return home for a five-game homestand, but coach Jamahl Mosley doesn't want them too far out of their minds. Here is what he had to say after Monday's game, when asked if the team just needed to "flush" this performance and move on:

"No, it's not a 'flush it." It's not. We got our a-- kicked. No other way to put it. They came in, punched us in the mouth. We didn't respond the right way. It's two nights in a row we've allowed our offense to dictate our defense. 139 [points given up] last night, 138 tonight. And to understand how we want to play, sometimes you gotta get hit in the dang mouth. And we got hit in the mouth twice. How we will respond is gonna say a lot about us, and that's all of us."

The Pelicans cannot afford to let this losing streak get back to four. The good news is that they'll be back to being favorites in their next game, but that doesn't mean much given how they performed against the Clippers. The 2-8 Brooklyn Nets kick off this home stretch, having just lost by 37 points to the Dallas Mavericks, but they have had a few days off at this point.

New Orleans will also seemingly be back to full strength as they have an off day, which should make Trey Murphy and Zion Williamson available. The rest day for Williamson is an entirely different conversation, but the bigger picture right now is how the team as a whole responds.

The vibes have been completely torn down since their four-game win streak. Part of that has been attributed to the return of Dejounte Murray to the starting lineup, as the team is 1-7 during his active stretch. In the past four games since returning, Murray has posted 11.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists on 38.2/44.4/1.000 shooting splits. It would be unfair to blame everything on him, but the team does need more from him if they are to continue starting him.

These two losses are on everybody. Especially on that second night, there is no one who should walk away happy with their individual performance. The team had just 21 assists, and only 13 outside of Jeremiah Fears' eight. They were dominated on the boards. They lost the turnover battle. They couldn't score in the paint. These are all things that Mosley preaches to his team. 

No matter who plays and who starts, New Orleans can't expect to win like that. While Mosley doesn't want them to "flush it," they do have a chance to turn a corner and move past it. The team has to turn things around right now if they want to accomplish the goal of at least making the play-in tournament.