Pelicans’ fourth-quarter rally fails in loss to Spurs | Pelicans

A trip to San Antonio was supposed to be the cure for the New Orleans Pelicans’ road woes.

After all, the Pelicans had won five games in a row at the arena now called the Frost Bank Center.

But for the first time since December 2021, the Pelicans lost an away game against the Spurs.

This time a 121-116 setback after a difficult comeback in the fourth quarter.

The Pelicans trailed 114-103 with 5:02 left. They then outscored the Spurs 13-0 and took a 116-114 lead.

The Pels held the Spurs scoreless from the 5:02 mark of the fourth quarter until the 36.9-second mark when Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama hit a 3-pointer to give San Antonio the lead for good. The Pels remained scoreless in the final minute of the game.

Trey Murphy had a chance to equalize late, but his 3-pointer with 10 seconds left didn’t go down.

It was the 12th road loss in a row for the Pelicans (5-20). Their only road win came in the second game of the season against Portland at the Smoothie King Center.

“He’s a fantastic player and someone to keep an eye on whenever he’s on the field,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said of Wembanyama before the game.

The loss came a day after the Pelicans lost one of their most important players. Brandon Ingram suffered what the team called a severe left lower ankle sprain in Saturday night’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Ingram will be out indefinitely.

“We all feel bad for him,” Green said.

Ingram’s absence resulted in Green having to start in a different starting lineup for the 17th time this season.

Sunday’s starting five consisted of Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herb Jones, Murphy and rookie Yves Missi.

Murphy replaced Ingram in the starting lineup and led the Pelicans with 25 points.

“It takes time,” Green said. “Trey, CJ and Dejounte haven’t played many games together. It takes time to get back into the rhythm after missing several weeks. “I’m used to seeing Trey play and obviously we’re going to need big minutes from him.”

Murphy was one of six Pelicans in double figures. CJ McCollum scored 19 points. Missi recorded his sixth double-double (18 points, 14 rebounds).

The Pelicans were also without Javonte Green, who sat out before the game with left ankle soreness.

“Hopefully we can get some consistency with our lineups and the guys we have available,” Green said. “But the biggest thing is developing the mindset of attacking from start to finish and sustaining that over a 48-minute game. “We do it for half a quarter or two and a half quarters. It takes more than that against any team in the NBA. That’s our goal, to put together a complete game.”

The Pelicans have three days off before hosting the Sacramento Kings on Thursday.