The New Orleans Pelicans extended their losing streak to four with the 118-104 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Trey Murphy III is continuing to get back into form with a 22-point first half and finishing with 35 points on the night, but none of it matters because the Pelicans just couldn't string together stops.
During the early stages of the 2025 offseason, I spoke a lot about how this team lacked any sort of talent defensively aside from Herb Jones, as even Jose Alvarado is limited on that side of the ball due to his size. The additions of Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey, and Derik Queen have definitely boosted this team's offensive production, but none of that matters if you can't get stops. And Friday night made it more obvious than ever that this group’s inability to defend on the perimeter is the main thing holding them back from being a real player in the Western Conference.
Luka Dončić fried this team Friday night with 20 points and nine dimes in the first half — any time he beat Jones, or any time Jones wasn’t on the court, it was a free basket. The only time anyone not named Herb Jones stopped Dončić defensively was by fouling him, which only hurt the team more as he shot 9-13 from the charity stripe.
Willie Green can't be blamed for everything...
While I still do think this team needs a change in the form of parting ways with head coach Willie Green, it's not his fault that no one on this team can guard.
Every game I see more and more that even though Green appears to be in way over his head as the coach and leader of this team, Joe Dumars didn't really do him any favors with the moves he made. When bringing in Kevon Looney is not only the team's only big free agency move, but also their best defensive addition, it makes it easier to understand why they are 2-10 right now.
A coach can only work with what he has, and every single night it becomes more obvious how little Willie Green has to work with. Sure, things like starting Kevon Looney, who was a minus-58 coming into Friday's game, over Derik Queen, who has been on fire as of late, are on Green, but things like consistent poor performances on the defensive end aren't.
Even though many of us thought that if the Pelicans fired Willie Green and brought a new voice, it could help turn the season around, Friday night's loss to L.A. proved that roster changes may be needed just as much as a coaching change.