Already without their starting center for the remainder of 2013-14, the New Orleans Pelicans announced Friday that their first-string point guard also won’t play again this season. Jrue Holiday, an All-Star in 2013 who was acquired in a draft-night trade with the Philadelphia 76ers, has undergone season-ending surgery to correct a right tibia stress fracture.
Holiday has been sidelined since Jan. 8 with the injury, after playing in each of the team’s first 34 games. Brian Roberts has started in his place at point guard over the past 23 games. Holiday had been one of the NBA’s most durable players during his previous four seasons with Philadelphia, playing in 298 of a possible 312 games. He played all 82 games in 2010-11 and only missed one contest in the following season.
Holiday averaged 14.3 points, 7.9 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.6 steals in his debut season with New Orleans. He played through injuries prior to being sidelined in January, averaging just 6.0 points and 5.5 assists in the last four games he played Jan. 3-8.
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound point guard joins starting center Jason Smith (31 games played in 2013-14) on the team’s list of players who are out for the season due to injury. Second-leading scorer Ryan Anderson (22 games) has been sidelined since Jan. 3 after an accidental collision with Boston’s Gerald Wallace; Anderson is awaiting additional exams on his herniated disc to determine if he needs season-ending surgery.