Jan 7, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans head coach Willie Green reacts during the first half against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Willie Green's Honest Statement After Pelicans' Embarrassing Loss

Originally posted on New Orleans Pelicans on SI
By Terry Kimble | Last updated Jan 8, 2025 11:10 PM ET

The New Orleans Pelicans turned in an embarrassing performance against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday evening. Portland completed a wire-to-wire 119-100 victory behind a game-high 27 points from forward Deni Avdija. The former first-round pick was questionable to play with a wrist injury, but he had a hot hand in the game, shooting 10/15 from the floor.

The Pelicans were without Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and Trey Murphy III, and forward Herb Jones injured his shoulder in the third quarter. Injuries have been the major story for New Orleans this season, but a lack of effort and execution has given the team the horrendous 7-31 record it has this year.

Pelicans head coach Willie Green addressed the media postgame about his team's play and the future improvements they need to make to still be competitive.

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— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) January 9, 2025

"All of us were surprised by the lack of urgency. It was not a competitive game by our standards at all," Green told reporters postgame. "They came out and punched us in the mouth right away, and we couldn't recover."

New Orleans expects to get Williamson back on Friday when they hit the road against the Philadelphia 76ers. The two-time all-star was held out of Wednesday's game for precautionary reasons after finally returning to play on Tuesday from a two-month recovery from his hamstring injury. He did not disappoint, scoring 22 points in 28 minutes in the team's loss.

Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

Now, the Pelicans hit the road for a three-game trip, including a stop in Boston against the world-champion Celtics. New Orleans is 3-18 away from the Smoothie King Center this season.

This article first appeared on New Orleans Pelicans on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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