The hits keep coming for the New Orleans Pelicans in a season that just never seems to get better.
This time it comes in the form of a non-contact injury to point guard Dejounte Murray, who went down as he was chasing after a rebound midway through the first quarter of a 118-116 loss to the Celtics on Friday. The injury has been confirmed as a torn achilles, according to a report from Shams Charania of ESPN. The 28-year-old is done for the season and faces the long recovery.
The team has not yet officially announced the injury.
“Extremely difficult, when you see a guy that means so much to our team and puts the work in go down like that,” head coach Willie Green said after the game. “We’ll continue to pray for him and see what happens once he gets the imaging.”
Murray addressed the group at halftime, teammate Jose Alvarado said, and they rallied around a 40-point performance by rising star Trey Murphy III, but Jayson Tatum's game-winner with .2 seconds remaining spelled another defeat in what is now a 12-37 campaign. It's the latest blow in a season that already featured a fractured hand for Murray in the season-opener and major injuries to Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram that have limited the pair to 13 and 18 games, respectively.
“He’s one of the toughest soldiers I know,” Alvarado said. “He’s so tough mentally — at least what he shows to us. He held his head high. He was waiting for us at halftime. He told us the news, and I think I shed a tear. He’s just so solid. He going to be our leader. I told him, ‘I send my prayers up to you.’”
Murray had been averaging 17.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists and 2 steals over 31 games played and the team had been showing flashes of the group that generated excitement coming into the season after the blockbuster trade with the Hawks that brought him to New Orleans. Murray is in the first season of a 4-year, $114 million contract and will almost certainly be a part of the Pelicans' future plans when he's back on the court.
Every recovery is different, but NBA players have been known to return to play after 10 months, though it can be sometime beyond that before they return to peak performance. Based on that timeline would put a potential return in December, midway through next season.
“We’ll make sure we continue to support him,” Green said. “We’ll wait for the results, but whatever the case we’ll make sure we’re there to support him.”
The Pelicans are next in action on Monday when they travel to face the Denver Nuggets, the first of a four-game road trip with the Super Bowl taking over New Orleans next week.
