Late-game collapse to the Lakers costs Pelicans their eighth straight

The New Orleans Pelicans' losing streak continues to grow with Tuesday night's 111-103 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Pelicans competed all night and even led by eight heading into the fourth quarter, but a cold stretch in the final frame handed this win to the Lakers. New Orleans scored 17 points, shooting 5-for-15 from the field and 2-for-12 from three in the fourth.

Luka Dončić was doing what he does all night, causing fits for the Pelicans' defense, hitting magical shots, including a fading three out of bounds as the shot clock expired.

Dončić finished with 30 points and 10 assists, matching LeBron James, who also had 30 points to go along with his eight rebounds and eight assists. However, neither LeBron nor Dončić was the game's leading scorer, as Trey Murphy III had a career-high 42 points, including a 20-point third quarter that had the Pelicans in the driver's seat heading into the fourth. Murphy III also knocked down six threes, while bringing in five rebounds and three assists.

Murphy III continues to prove why he should remain untouchable heading into the trade deadline, as there is no one on the Pels roster who can create shots and knock down threes like Murphy III does.

There was another major positive for the Pelicans outside of Murphy III's incredible night: the Pelicans attempted 40 threes, nine more than the Lakers. All season, it's been a trend for the Pelicans to be outshot from distance by their opponents, but on Tuesday, they were able to flip that narrative. The only bad part is that out of the 40 threes they took, they made just 10 of them.

Other notable induvial performances

Derik Queen had a good performance with a near triple-double, finishing with 10 points, 13 rebounds, and eight assists, but his turnovers down the stretch killed New Orleans in this game. Queen accounted for three of the team's seven fourth-quarter turnovers, and it felt like he was often forcing passes and maybe trying to chase the triple-double mark.

I'd much rather see DQ put his head down and go to the basket and get blocked than throw the ball away.

Yves Missi gave the Pelicans some high-energy, effective quality minutes in the first half. He had eight points, seven boards, five of which were on the offensive glass. He was running up and down in the break, crashing the glass, fighting for rebounds, and just doing everything you want from a backup big.

I rarely have disliked decisions that interim head coach James Borrego has made since taking over, but on Tuesday, I really disliked his decision to bench Missi for the entirety of the third quarter. Especially after he had a monster putback that had the Smoothie King Center rocking to close the first half.

Overall, this wasn’t a bad loss for the Pelicans — they just lacked another shot-maker and playmaker when Murphy III went cold, shooting 1-for-5 in the fourth.