The New Orleans Pelicans were on a terrific run since the All-Star Break. However, over the past few weeks, with Brandon Ingram being sidelined, the team has struggled to win their games. After already having suffered losses against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Boston Celtics, and the Phoenix Suns, Zion Williamson and co. suffer a fourth loss in the last five games as they fall to the Orlando Magic 108-117 tonight. Three players being ejected in the final few seconds of the contest makes the situation even worse.
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Having lost their only other encounter against the Orlando Magic, the New Orleans Pelicans wanted redemption and aimed to level the regular season series at one game apiece. However, Paolo Banchero and co. didn’t let that happen as they began dominating the contest right from tip-off. Understandably so, the players on the Louisiana side were frustrated and the actions of Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones resulted in the official ejecting them with merely 8.9 seconds remaining in the game. After a short while, Dyson Daniels was also kicked out of the game.
Herb Jones, Trey Murphy & Dyson Daniels were all ejected with 7 seconds left in the game after having words with ref. pic.twitter.com/a4g9d3MRvq
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 4, 2024
Following the game, the ejections were a topic that every player and coach was asked to talk about. When Zion Williamson was asked to talk about it, the forward revealed how he wasn’t present on the floor when the incidents took place. Further, giving out a cryptic response, the 6ft 6” star revealed that coach Willie Green did communicate to the team about the same. However, Williamson didn’t disclose the details of that conversation.
“So I had already gotten to the locker room so I didn’t even get to see it happen. Coach spoke to us about that. I don’t know if he shared it so I don’t want to speak too much on it. That’s just something we have to talk about internally as a team,” Williamson revealed.
“Coach spoke to us about that. I don’t know if he shared it so I don’t want to speak too much on it. That’s just something we have to talk about internally as a team”
— Zion Williamson on the 3 late game ejections pic.twitter.com/mzrKG8QeH3
— Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) April 4, 2024
During his postgame press conference, Willie Green revealed his opinions on the late-game ejections. Even though he didn’t dive in and speak about the conversation that he had with his boys, the head coach expressed how he wanted his team to maintain composure even if they weren’t getting the calls that they deserved.
“I get it, some calls aren’t going our way, we feel like other teams are getting those calls… At the end of the game, we have to keep our composure… We gotta take it, we lost. We have to be able to take that sometimes,” Willie Green said.
“I get it, some calls arent going our way, we feel like other teams are getting those calls… At the end of the game we have to keep our composure… We gotta take it. We lost. We have to be able to take that sometimes”
— Willie Green on the late game ejections pic.twitter.com/6CLiLqqN5p
— Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) April 4, 2024
Fans of the Louisiana side will certainly be disappointed with how the players reacted. Already missing Brandon Ingram due to injuries, the team cannot afford to have any more players not being available to suit up at such a crucial stage of the regular season.
Due to their recent losing skid, and the Phoenix Suns’ winning streak, the Pelicans have fallen to the play-in territory. With six games remaining for the season, per ESPN, one of them being against the Suns itself, the Pelicans have the opportunity to redeem their #5 seed. At the same time, playing against four teams better than a .500 record, the Brandon Ingram-less Pelicans could further tumble down the standings.
