New Orleans prepared for Tuesday’s home game vs. Dallas knowing it would be playing without at least one starter (Brandon Ingram), but shortly after this morning’s shootaround, the Pelicans announced that two other first-stringers – Zion Williamson and Herb Jones – will also be DNPs against the Mavericks. All three were injured during Sunday’s overtime defeat to Utah, with Ingram sustaining a concussion, Williamson bruising his hip on a hard fall to the floor and Jones having a right knee hyperextension.
“It’s next man up mentality,” second-year forward Trey Murphy said after shootaround. “There are going to be a lot of games where guys don’t play. Just because they don’t play doesn’t mean that we have to lay down. We have to step up and try to win games for our team with our star guys out.” Murphy started the second half of Sunday’s game against Utah with Ingram sidelined and unable to return to action.
Trey Murphy III on next man up mentality | Pelicans Mavericks Shootaround 10/25/2022
Other notes from Tuesday’s morning shootaround in the Ochsner Sports Performance Center:
Jaxson Hayes logged three minutes Sunday in his season debut, coming off an elbow injury. Hayes returned ahead of schedule after he was expected to miss 2-4 weeks with a UCL tear. “When they first told me I was a little more worried,” Hayes said of the diagnosis. “A tear in the UCL is very serious, but luckily for me I’m not a left-handed pitcher or a quarterback. So it wasn’t as serious. I’m a pretty quick healer, so as long as I do my rehab and just rest, I was ready to get back pretty quick.” …
Asked about the impact Murphy makes by sinking threes from well beyond the arc, he said, “I can’t tell when I’m in the game, but when I see the film I’m like, ‘Oh damn, I’m pretty far away from the three-point line.’ I guess it’s pretty cool just to see myself bomb 30-footers.” …
The Pelicans are focusing on improving defensively after that end of the floor proved costly against Utah. “Really just communicating, playing together, giving a lot of energy,” Murphy said of what New Orleans must do. “We’ve just got to talk it out and make sure we’re disciplined to our game plan.” Hayes: “We’re going to come out a lot harder, come out with something to prove, because we didn’t like that loss. We didn’t feel like we should’ve lost to the Jazz, but it is what it is.”
Jaxson Hayes on return from injury | Pelicans Mavericks Shootaround 10/25/2022
Dallas Scouting Report
Offensive efficiency rank: 1 (124.1)
Defensive efficiency rank: 3 (103.6)
Net rating: 1 (+20.5)
Streak: Won 1
Go-to guy: Perhaps no NBA team runs its offense through a single player as much as Dallas does with guard Luka Doncic, who constantly has the ball in his hands to drive, post up, take a mid-range shot or launch a three-pointer. Doncic has been effective against every opponent in his four-year NBA career, but particularly so while facing the Pelicans, averaging 29.1 points in 14 matchups, as well as 9.2 rebounds and 8.4 assists. Those are all above his career averages (26.4, 8.5, 8.0) in 266 total games.
On the rise: Briefly a Pelican for eight games at the end of the 2018-19 season, Christian Wood is off to a tremendous start with Dallas. Traded to the Mavericks by Southwest Division counterpart Houston in the offseason, Wood is averaging 25.0 points in only 24.5 minutes per game. He’s shooting 56 percent from the field and is 5/10 from three-point range.
Previous Game Starting Lineups
DALLAS (1-1)
Saturday win vs. Memphis
Luka Doncic, Spencer Dinwiddie, Reggie Bullock, Dorian Finney-Smith, JaVale McGee
Notes: This group is 1-1. Dallas used 22 different starting lineups last season. … McGee is the only new member of the Mavericks among this quintet; Dinwiddie was acquired in a trade with Washington last season. … Tuesday’s visit to New Orleans is part of an odd two-game road trip for Dallas that concludes in the Northeast on Thursday at Brooklyn.
NEW ORLEANS (2-1)
Sunday loss vs. Utah
CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, Jonas Valanciunas
Notes: This group is 2-1, but will not be intact Tuesday with Ingram already ruled out due to a concussion. Jones and Williamson are questionable. … New Orleans used 23 different starting lineups last season. … The Pelicans are 0-1 in a stretch of six consecutive games against West opponents. Next up is a three-game road trip to Phoenix and Los Angeles (facing both the Clippers and the Lakers).
FanDuel Keys to the Game
IT STARTS WITH DEFENSE
That was the theme in postgame interviews Sunday, after New Orleans dug itself a hole by not providing enough resistance for Utah’s offense. The Jazz built a lead by racking up 63 first-half points, eventually going up by 17 in the fourth quarter. Willie Green used a boxing analogy to describe how the Pelicans were on the heels based on Utah’s initial surge: “We can’t wait to get hit first.”
NEXT PEL UP
With Ingram, Williamson and Jones out, the Pelicans will need a range of contributors to make up for that missing firepower. Murphy (16 points, nine rebounds) and Larry Nance Jr. (10 points, seven rebounds, six assists) were excellent off the bench Sunday vs. Utah.
MATCHUP TO WATCH
Through one week of play, both teams are led in scoring by a prolific guard. Doncic is off to a big start, tallying 67 points in his 67 minutes logged. McCollum delivered a series of clutch hoops Sunday to nearly lift New Orleans to a gigantic comeback win vs. Utah, finishing with 28 points in 41 minutes. Green on McCollum’s performance: “CJ was fantastic.”