The New Orleans Pelicans’ season of frustration continued Friday night.
This time, it came against a team that has been a thorn in the Pelicans’ side in recent years.
The Pelicans fell to the Los Angeles Lakers 118-104 on Friday at Smoothie King Center. It was the seventh straight loss to the Lakers. The Pels' last win against the Lakers came on Dec. 31, 2023.
Not even another big scoring night from Trey Murphy was enough to get the Pelicans past the Lakers and their trio of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Deandre Ayton.
Murphy, two nights from climbing to second place on the Pelicans’ all-time 3-pointers made list, finished with 35 points. He scored 22 of his points in the first half. He would’ve had 25 in the half, but a buzzer-beater at the end of the first quarter was overturned after video review. Murphy, who passed Jrue Holiday on Wednesday and now trails only CJ McCollum on the all-time list, made 3-of-7 3-pointers Friday. He helped the Pelicans keep pace with Doncic in the first half. Doncic had 20 points and nine assists in the first half and finished with 24 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds. L.A. center Deandre Ayton finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Reaves scored 31.
The Lakers led 65-52 at the break. The Pelicans, who have struggled in the third quarter, were outscored by only 30-25. The Pelicans trailed by as many as 22 at one point in the third quarter, but cut it to 95-85 with 8:58 in the fourth on a Jose Alvarado 3-pointer. Alvarado’s trey capped off a 10-0 run.
The Pelicans (2-10) have now dropped four straight games. They started the season on a six-game losing streak.
Friday’s game was the Pelicans’ second NBA Cup pool play game. The Pels lost their first game in Western Conference Group B to the Los Angeles Clippers on Halloween. That one was decided on a Kawhi Leonard jumper at the buzzer. This game against the other L.A. team wasn’t as close.
The Pelicans were once again without Zion Williamson, who missed his sixth consecutive game with a hamstring injury. On Thursday, Williamson was cleared to resume on-court activities. But he hasn’t been cleared yet to play. The Lakers, meanwhile, were without LeBron James (sciatica). The NBA’s all-time leading scorer has yet to suit up this season. But the Lakers (9-4) have managed just fine without him.
The Pelicans got a season-high night from rookies Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears. Queen recorded a season-high 10 rebounds to go with nine points. Fears recorded nine steals, one shy of Chris Paul’s franchise record. Fears also scored 19 points.
Three games remain on the Pelicans’ 5-game homestand. They host a back-to-back on Sunday and Monday against the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder and then face the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday.