The New Orleans Pelicans’ chances of advancing to the NBA Cup knockout round were diminished Tuesday when they lost to the Dallas Mavericks by 41 points.
Four teams from both conferences make the knockout round. Point differential in group play matters. Going into Friday’s game against the Golden State Warriors, the Pelicans were an NBA-worst minus-34.
To have a realistic shot at making the round of eight, the Pelicans needed to beat the Warriors in both teams’ third group play game. The Pelicans fell short of that goal, losing to the Warriors 112-108 at the Smoothie King Center.
Trey Murphy’s 3-pointer with 14 seconds remaining got the Pelicans within two points. Brandon Boston came up with a steal, which led to Murphy getting a clean look at a potential game-winning 3 with five seconds to go. Murphy missed, and the Warriors recovered.
“When you have an open look like that, that’s an opportunity to take it,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “I thought it was good.”
New Orleans fell to 4-13 overall and 1-2 in NBA Cup group play. Its final group stage game is next Friday in Memphis.
The Pelicans got a little injury relief, as shooting guard Jordan Hawkins returned after missing seven games with a back strain. Hawkins came off the bench and looked rusty in his first game since Nov. 6. He scored six points on 2-of-9 shooting.
The Pelicans clung to a one-point halftime lead. Murphy played his best game since he made his season debut a little less than two weeks ago. Murphy scored 15 of his 24 points in the first half. He shot 5 of 9 from 3-point territory.
“We need Trey’s shot making,” Green said. “His ability to space the floor, it allows for guys to get to the basket, get to the paint.”
At the 3:16 mark of the fourth quarter, Boston connected on a 3 from the right corner, which cut the Warriors’ lead to three. Steph Curry responded with a quick basket, which gave Golden State a two-possession advantage again.
Curry scored 19 points as the Warriors improved to 3-0 in NBA Cup group play. Andrew Wiggins led Golden State with a game-high 30 points.
The free-throw line was an important battleground. The Pelicans shot 14 of 22 there. With 31 seconds remaining, Brandon Ingram missed a pair of free throws that could have cut the Warriors’ lead to three points.
“We still came up short,” Green said. “A few plays down the stretch. Knock some free throws down. Maybe the ball bounces our way on that last 3 we got off. There are some things we can clean up down the stretch. But they battled their tails off.”
The Pelicans next play Monday against the Indiana Pacers. It’s likely that guard CJ McCollum will make his return from an adductor strain then.
