The New Orleans Pelicans (43-27) had last beaten the Miami Heat on the road in 2017. The sportsbooks had plenty of reasons to heavily favor Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo on the last Friday before Good Friday. First, Willie Green's rotations would have to operate without Brandon Ingram (knee contusion) and Dyson Daniels (knee). Any New Orleans fan hearing Zion Williamson had zero first-half points and finished with just four would be forgiven for assuming the worst.
CJ McCollum and Trey Murphy III are starting to change those expectations. McCollum warned the NBA at the start of March Madness. Even if the Pelicans are missing an All-Star, Green's talented, tight-knit group forges on. Even when Ingram or Williamson are not scoring, there are others to step up. That's how a shorthanded team leaves Miami with a comfortable 23-point win over a recent NBA Finalist. It also allowed the Pelicans to troll Butler immediately after the final buzzer sounded.
Murphy, McCollum stepping up in Brandon Ingram's absence
Murphy (14 points) moved into Ingram's starting spot and sank four of nine three-point attempts. McCollum (6-12) hit half of his three-pointers, finishing with 30 points, seven assists, and five rebounds. Once Green realized it just was not Williamson's night, the Murphy and McCollum show got the spotlight.
Murphy III is still learning the NBA ropes compared to McCollum's career. That is why Green tasked the 11-year veteran with taking the lead on offense. McCollum scored 20 points in the second and third quarters to all but put the game away.
“We needed CJ's scoring tonight. It was huge for us. His decision-making was huge,” Green shared. “He struggled a little bit early but we were just pressing. Not having BI, not having our normal lineups in the game, just pressing a little bit. Then we settled into the game and started to make simple plays over and over. Then CJ got it going. We got stops and got out in the open floor. He hit big shot after big shot, especially late in the third quarter.”
It's a strategy that alleviates burdens Ingram and Williamson, and one Green expects to play more over the final 12 regular season games remaining.
“Yeah, we're going to continue to explore, you know, when you're missing BI and as much as he brings to our team. This is where we have to kind of go back to the drawing board and see what lineups work. See what groups can be on the floor together and continue to work on it from there.”
CJ McCollum credits staff for Pelicans success
The former Portland Trail Blazers star approved a trade to New Orleans not because of the food, but the buffet of high character people in leadership positions. McCollum credited the coaching and scouting reports after the win in Miami for the team's sustained success and high standards.
“We will just continue to stick to what we're being taught in game plan discipline, guarding with five, helping each other, running people off the line, holding teams to one shot, and taking care of the ball,” McCollum said. “We have been doing all of that stuff for two to three months now. We want to continue to sustain that level of play. Our offense will figure itself out. We have a lot of great players. If we continue to guard like that, we have a chance to do something special.”
Green agreed with McCollum's stance. Going to face Eric Spoelstra for the second game of a back-to-back road set is not the ideal situation. Some teams would have players circling the date as a night off or a scheduled loss. Not the Pelicans.
Pelicans still working to reach potential
“Our focus is on being the best version of ourselves and reaching our potential as a team…,” Green said. “It's the ‘care' factor and that's what you want. You want guys that care, that compete. We try to continue to look at the big picture. Even though we had a tough loss against Orlando, we were 7-2 in this game of ten. We try to break the season up in tens so we had a chance to go 8-2, which we did tonight.”
The Pelicans need to win seven of their final 12 games to reach the 50-win milestone. While special, it is easy to assume McCollum meant something special in the NBA Playoffs. A few more big nights from McCollum and Murphy could push the team into the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the first round. Regular season wins only garner so much respect.
Postseason wins build legacies, which is what McCollum set out to do when choosing New Orleans over other trading partners. Producing those special moments in front of an adoring Smoothie King Center crowd would just be the cherry on top of an otherwise delightful season of basketball in the Big Easy. Pairing McCollum with Murphy III more while Ingram and Williamson get some rest is one very viable pathway to reaching the team's full potential. Green has to go with it more after seeing the duo scorch the Heat.
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