The New Orleans Pelicans were about as cold as the temperature outside of the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Monday.
The Pelicans collapsed in the second half of a 102-95 loss to the surging Charlotte Hornets.
The Pelicans led 64-49 at halftime, then scored just 31 points the rest of the way. They scored just 13 points in the fourth quarter.
“We had four layups and we missed them,” Pelicans interim coach James Borrego said. “Either you miss them or you make them. I think we had good looks there, at least in the third quarter. They picked up their aggression. They got to the free-throw line more. But in general, you’ve got to score more than 31 points in a half to get a win.”
Trey Murphy scored 27 points to go with four assists to lead the Pelicans (13-39). Zion Williamson finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, his fourth double-double in the last six games. It was the 26th straight game Williamson has played in. That’s the most consecutive games Williamson has played in his career.
Charlotte (23-28) has won seven straight games, the longest active winning streak in the NBA.
Because of inclement weather, the NBA changed Monday’s game time from 6 p.m. to 2 p.m. The earlier start didn’t seem to affect the Pelicans early on. They fell behind 7-0, then outscored the Hornets 30-16 the rest of the quarter for a 30-23 lead.
The Pelicans added to that lead by outscoring the Hornets 34-26 in the second quarter. The Pels led by as many as 22 points in the quarter.
Things fell apart in the second half after Charlotte scored the first 10 points. The fourth quarter was more of the same. The Pelicans started the quarter in a drought that lasted almost five minutes. The first points didn’t come until Murphy hit three free throws with 7:27 left.
The Pelicans allowed just 102 points, which is usually enough to win a game. But the offense didn’t do its part.
“I like where our defense is at,” Borrego said. “I think the defense is giving us a shot. We said that’s where we’re going to hang our hat the rest of the year. Now we’ve got to find some more offense.”
It didn’t help that the Pelicans got outrebounded 59-34.
“I thought we were disruptive defensively upfront,” Borrego said. “We were switching a lot of their stuff and taking them out of their patterns. But then you’ve got to finish with the boards, and obviously we didn’t get that done at the level we needed to.”
LaMelo Ball led the Hornets with 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
For the Pelicans, Derik Queen finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.
The Pelicans are now 3-3 with the starting lineup of Williamson, Murphy, Queen, Herb Jones and Saddiq Bey. Guards Jordan Poole and Jordan Hawkins didn’t play for the fifth consecutive game.
The Pelicans play at the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday in the team’s final game before Thursday's NBA trade deadline.