Murray described the Pelicans’ efforts as ‘simply despicable’

Enough said. Dejounte died A I enjoyed my first game New Orleans Pelicans The uniform is much more than his long wait.

Boos rained down from a large and initially lively Thanksgiving Eve crowd as they watched the tour unfold. Toronto Raptors — a team that went 10 road games without a win — blew a 34-point lead in the second half.

“If you’re not embarrassed and really mad about it, that’s a problem,” Murray said after New Orleans. 119–93 loss Wednesday night extended their losing streak to six games.

“It’s not really about the loss, [but] How we lost in front of our fans,” Murray continued. “Like, the fans are clamoring — I mean, if you were a fan, would you pay your money? You want to watch a competitive basketball game, especially from your home team. So, they got all the rights to feel what they want, how they feel. They deserve a better game.”

The Pelicans have been without a star since Murray suffered a fractured hand at the end of an opening night victory over Chicago on Oct. 23. Zion Williamson And with the other starters still in the lineup, they managed to get off to a 2-0 start.

Since then, the top eight players in the Pelicans’ rotation have suffered injuries, and New Orleans has lost 15 of 17 overall in the highly competitive Western Conference.

Injuries to Murray, Williamson (left hamstring); Brandon Ingram (right calf) CJ McCollum (exact mixer) Herb Jones (right shoulder) Trey Murphy III (left knee injury) Jose Alvarado (left hamstring) and Jordan Hawkins (back) has taken a toll.

Murray missed 17 games before returning to the lineup Wednesday, one game after McCollum returned from a 13-game absence. Williamson, Ingram, Murphy, Jones and Alvarado were all left out of the lineup.

“When you have guys coming in, guys out, guys in, guys out, it’s really tough,” Murray said. “But I think it’s not difficult to compete.

“You can’t be punked. You can’t be pushed around,” Murray added. “Tonight, it was just offensive. We’ve got to compete, we’ve got to play hard, no matter who’s on the floor.”

Murray was surprisingly rusty, missing his first seven shots before finishing with 14 points. McCullum scored 19 runs. But it wasn’t enough to make up for what coach Willie Green and McCollum suggested for a soft defense against Toronto.

The Raptors tied for last in the NBA in 3-pointers made per game at 10.4 in New Orleans. He scored a season-best 21 against the Pelicans.

“Either they got better overnight, or we’re going to have to do a better job and make it harder,” McCollum said.

“It was a terrible display,” he added. “From top to bottom, we all have to get better.”

Green, the Pelicans’ fourth-year coach, lamented what he called a “lack of competition.”

“We let a team come on our home floor and really make us look soft,” Green said. “That’s what I told my group, it can’t happen.”

The Pelicans have 63 games left to try to get back into contention for at least a play-in berth. Their performance in Memphis on Friday night will show how serious they are about turning things around.

“We let a team come on our home floor and really make us look soft. That’s what I told my group. It can’t happen.”

Pelicans coach Willie Green

The players were given part of the day off to spend with family before the short flight to Memphis on Thursday night.

“As soon as we got on that plane, we had to stop to understand what had just happened,” Murray said. “You don’t want bad habits to go away.”

While McCollum emphasized that injuries have made it “hard to establish rhythm and rotation,” he described the latest loss as “just one bad game that we can’t have.” .

“Time is ticking,” McCollum said. “And it’s not getting any easier.”