Pelicans’ Dejounte Murray On Boos: What Would You Do If You Were Fan Paying Your Money?

Dejounte Murray’s long-awaited return to the New Orleans Pelicans lineup was anything but celebratory. Instead, it became a Thanksgiving Eve nightmare as the Pelicans were embarrassed 119-93 at home by the Toronto Raptors — a team that entered the night winless in 10 road games.

Boos poured down from frustrated fans at Smoothie King Center, and Murray wasn’t about to sugarcoat what happened.

“It’s not really about the loss, [but] how we lost in front of our fans,” Murray told reporters. “Like, even the fans booing — I mean, what would you do if you was a fan paying your money? You want to come watch a competitive basketball game, especially from your home team. So, they got all the rights to say what they want, feel how they feel. They deserve a better game.”

The loss was New Orleans’ sixth straight and a stark reminder of just how far this team has fallen. After a 2-0 start, the Pelicans now sit at 4-15, buried at the bottom of the Western Conference.

Injuries have decimated the roster, with Murray, Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, and four other key rotation players missing significant time.

Murray, playing in his first game since fracturing his hand on opening night, admitted he was rusty, finishing with 14 points on 6-of-17 shooting. But his biggest issue wasn’t his own performance—it was the team’s lack of fight.

“You can’t get punked. You can’t get pushed around,” Murray said. “Tonight, it was just disgusting. We’ve got to compete. We’ve got to play harder, no matter who’s on the floor.”

That sentiment was echoed by head coach Willie Green, who didn’t mince words about his team’s effort.

“We allowed a team to come on our home floor and really make us look soft,” Green said. “That can’t happen.”

The Raptors, dead last in the NBA in 3-pointers made per game (10.4), lit up the Pelicans for a season-high 21 triples. It was a defensive meltdown that left McCollum, who scored 19 points in his second game back from injury, searching for answers.

“Either they got better overnight, or we’ve got to do a better job closing out and making it more difficult,” McCollum said. “From top to bottom, we’ve all got to be better.”

For a Pelicans team that came into the season with high expectations, time is running out to salvage their season. Friday’s game at Memphis presents another opportunity, but as McCollum put it, “Time is ticking. And it isn’t getting any easier.”

Murray remains hopeful that the team can right the ship, but his message was clear: the effort has to improve immediately.

“As soon as we get on that plane, we’ve got to lock in,” Murray said. “You don’t want bad habits to carry over.”

Right now, the Pelicans are staring down a long road back to relevance. Whether they can make the climb will depend on whether this group takes nights like Wednesday personally—or lets the season slip away entirely.