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What Willie Green Said After Pelicans' Loss to Knicks

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ryan Brooks | Last updated Dec 22, 2024 10:04 AM ET

The New Orleans Pelicans keep on losing. Make that 21 defeats in 23 games for the club after their recent loss to the New York Knicks.

Just how bad were things? The Pelicans' towel boy received a technical foul in the matchup. Simply nothing went right for the team.

The Pelicans ended up suffering a 104-93 defeat. They held a halftime lead over the Knicks, though Jalen Brunson helped New York secure a lead that they wouldn't look back from.

New Orleans was sloppy, too, giving the ball away 19 times, which led to 19 Knicks points.

There was one bright spot, though, as Trey Murphy III cashed in on 28 points while shooting 11-of-18 from the floor.

With yet another loss in the rearview mirror and less hope on the season, Pelicans head coach Willie Green took to the media to talk about the loss.

"It's a challenge for us to be able to execute against the best defenders night in and night out and take care of the ball," Green said. "We are going to continue to work at it. We'll show tape tomorrow of some of the things we did well and our improvements."

The Pelicans seemingly have no path forward. With Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram sidelined, the rest of the squad has to be nearly perfect. Well, that hasn't been the case, and they are a bottom team in the league because of that.

Dejounte Murray and CJ McCollum combined for just 27 points while shooting a combined 10-of-28 from the field. They weren't good enough to help the team to a victory.

It's time for New Orleans to break up their core and lean into being a losing team while assessing a path forward on the season. They are better off rebuilding than losing while having a relatively good roster.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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