Pelicans get healthier and finally look like themselves in win over the Suns

NEW ORLEANS – The Pelicans finally looked like the team they wanted to be on Thursday night.

Given the abundance of perimeter talent in New Orleans, small ball always seemed to be the obvious key to success this season. Without a healthy body, it’s just difficult to play like that consistently.

With Brandon Ingram and Herb Jones both making their long-awaited returns to the lineup, the Pelicans regained their identity with personnel that could space the court and defend well enough to — for the first time this year — do a little like that Team looks like they won 49 games last season. After losing 15 of their last 16 games, the Pelicans returned to their roots with some familiar faces en route to a tough 126-124 victory over Phoenix, ending a nine-game losing streak.

“We’ve been working on this in training camp and it’s a group we’re excited to bring together,” coach Willie Green said. “We thought this group could slow them down a little bit and we could have an advantage if we got stopped.”

Even though Zion Williamson, Jose Alvarado and Jordan Hawkins were still out with injuries, the Pelicans were finally healthy enough to have some of their best players playing together for the first time in weeks. Jones returned to the floor after 18 games with a shoulder strain, and Ingram returned after missing the last five games with calf soreness.

This comes after Dejounte Murray and CJ McCollum returned to the floor just over a week ago after months out due to injury.

On Thursday night, Ingram, Jones and Murray shared the floor since Murray broke his hand on opening night. It was the first time the three played with Trey Murphy III, who suffered a hamstring strain in training camp and missed the first 10 games of the season.

It was almost surreal to see so many of the Pels’ key players on the floor at once, considering how many patchwork lineups they’ve fielded over the past month as the losses piled up.

With most of its core back in uniform, New Orleans was able to draw on some of the strengths that have made this team successful in the past. The Pelicans were disruptive on defense. They spaced the floor for their top scorers. They attacked in transition.

Green didn’t introduce the lineup of Murray, McCollum, Murphy, Ingram and Jones for the first time until the three-minute mark of the second quarter. But when he did, he knew he had found something.

He pulled rookie Yves Missi midway through the third quarter and played the rest of the game without a center. Meanwhile, Ingram, Murray and Jones played the entire third quarter as New Orleans went from trailing by 11 to leading by 10 late in the quarter.

The shift allowed New Orleans to take control. 45 points were scored in the third period, 7 of 9 from the 3-point line. It was probably the most confidence this team has played with this season.

It may have only been one game, but it felt like an important opportunity for the Pelicans to show what they’re supposed to look like when all the pieces (except Williamson) come together. This should be a plan that they can follow in the future.

“It was fun,” Murphy said. “We were able to change everything. Run in transition. It was a different pace that we hadn’t seen in a while. I’m looking forward to continuing like this.”

While some of the bigger names will get more attention, Jones is the person who will unlock everything New Orleans is trying to accomplish with these small lineups. His activity and instincts completely change what this team can do on both ends of the floor. Even after a slow start, he filled the box score with 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals in his first game back.

Without Jones for most of the season, the Pelicans plummeted to 28th in defensive rating as of Thursday night after finishing sixth in each of the previous two seasons.

There were a few sloppy moments in the first half, but Jones’ presence helped the Pelicans find their way on defense as the game progressed. Several of his teammates remarked after the game how much his communication has improved over the years and how it holds everyone accountable in their defensive duties. If there is a crack, Jones is usually the first to spot it and fix the problem.

On this play in the first half, Jones does his job by helping from the corner to keep Mason Plumlee from rolling to the rim. But he also notes that Devin Booker was left open on the key question. Jones sprints out to stop Booker from shooting a 3 and commits the foul before he can get into the lane.

These plays aren’t counted in the box score, but if you make them enough during the game, they can make a big difference. It’s the quiet value that Jones brings to both sides that connects all the dots.

In this small lineup, Jones can slide into the middle and protect the edge, or he can move to the edge and guard the other team’s best player. The Pelicans decided to put Murray on Booker for most of this game, which allowed Jones to wreak havoc on the defense.

But when it came time to seal the game, Jones took Booker’s orders and blocked his final 3-point attempt before the buzzer.

Herbal sealing @PelicansNBA W🔒 pic.twitter.com/rUTl4Rc9RC

– NBA (@NBA) December 6, 2024

“Every loose ball is his,” McCollum said. “He gets his hands on distractions. He fights over screens. He communicates… As a player he has developed from first grade to now. He’s just an enthusiastic basketball player who does things the right way, and everyone loves playing with him.”

The spacing these smaller lineups create also makes life much easier for the Pelicans’ top scorers, who often perform at their best in isolation situations.

Ingram and Murray, in particular, are among the best in their business at recognizing inconsistencies and creating great looks when given the freedom. McCollum is also capable in these situations.

Ingram caught fire in the third quarter as the Pelicans made their run, scoring 21 of his 29 points, including a stretch when he scored 11 straight points.

At the start of the season, he was asked to handle much of the offense while most of the key players were out. Now that the Pelicans are better able to surround him with other weapons that teams need to respect, the game will be easier for him.

When Ingram slowed in the fourth quarter and went scoreless, McCollum picked up the slack, scoring 13 of his 25 points in the final period.

With so many options on the field, the Pelicans become a dangerous team once they have enough time to build chemistry. There will be nights where Jones or Murphy are too small to defend the other team’s center. Then it’s time to adapt. But in matchups where New Orleans can dictate space and the flow of the game, it won’t be easy to defend.

“We just try to find favorable opponents and attack them. What matters in the game is just being able to make a play,” McCollum said. “We played a good game, made the right decisions at the right time and gave ourselves a chance.”

There is no need to overstate a win. The Pelicans are still a 5-18 team and have an extremely difficult road ahead as they try to get back into the play-in race among a long list of Western Conference contenders.

Regardless of how this season ends, the goal for New Orleans moving forward should be to find ways to be successful with all of its best players on the field at the same time.

As successful as last year’s team was, its fatal flaw was how average it looked when Williamson, Ingram and McCollum were on the field together. A five-man lineup consisting of Murray, McCollum, Murphy, Ingram and Jones has enough talent to compete with just about anyone in the league.

Now it’s about keeping them on the floor long enough to truly embrace this new identity.

“Obviously we’re in a tough spot and we need to speed up the learning curve a little bit,” McCollum said. “We have a lot of talented players and we learn spontaneously. … We just have to go out there, compete and trust each other.”

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(Photo by CJ McCollum: Chris Graythen / Getty Images)