Pelicans' Dejounte Murray gets real about Zion Williamson's defense ahead of Celtics clash
01/30/2025 10:23 PM
The New Orleans Pelicans’ level of play has taken a step up since star forward Zion Williamson returned from injury. Williamson has scored more than 20 points in all but one game since he has returned and led the team in scoring with 29 points in their 137-136 loss against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.
Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray has enjoyed having the opportunity to play with Williamson and has been particularly impressed with his performance on the defensive end of the floor.
"Love it,” Murray said. “It comes down to the winning teams defend the basketball. It's great to see him wanting to defend and just trying and being in the help side, all those things. It's great to see Z (Williamson) out there competing and doing what he loves to do."
Murray pointed out an area of Williamson’s offensive game that does not get as much attention as other things he does.
"Z is Z,” Murray said. “Strong guy that is always going downhill. Willing passer, efficient guy, and that's what it is."
The group of Murray, Williamson, CJ McCollum and Trey Murphy III has been stellar when on the court together. Murray elaborated on the simple yet impactful reason for their success.
"The winning teams and the successful teams play for each other,” Murray said. “I think we're doing it a little bit, not consistently. We can be better at it. Other than that, we're losing games. I don't really want to talk about offense when we're losing games.”
Murray, Williamson and the rest of the Pelicans return to action on Friday night when they host the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CST.
Dejounte Murray speaks on Pelicans rebounding woes
When discussing the reasons causing the Pelicans to lose games this season, there is no shortage of things to choose from. Rebounding is on the list of problems they have had this season.
Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray thinks it comes down to the Pelicans simply not wanting it as bad as their opponents.
"It comes down to guarding the ball, standing in front, helping your brother and then how bad you want it,” Murray said. “I feel like rebounding is a hard thing, an 'I wanna win thing,' a 'I want it badder than you thing,' and that's just not where we're at, as you see. 32 second-chance points."
Murray and the Pelicans hope to turn this trend around moving forward. They might see themselves in the win column more frequently as a result.
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