NBA Legend Embarrassed After Pelicans Poor Performance Against Golden State

NBA on TNT Broadcaster and NBA Legend Charles Barkley didn't hold back his thoughts after the Pelicans blew a 20 point lead against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.

Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Pelicans had a night to forget on Tuesday night. 

The team lost to the Golden State Warriors 124-106 to move to 2-2 on the season. At one point, the Pelicans had a 20-point lead but somehow lost by 18 points. 

After the game on the TNT postgame show, NBA legend and current studio analyst Charles Barkley didn’t mix his words when discussing how the evening went for New Orleans. 

“I’m not going to overreact. That was embarrassing by the Pelicans. I don’t mind teams losing games, but to lose that game the way they did. The guys talk about there’s no Dejounte Murray and Trey Murphy.  Man they got Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, and CJ McCollum. They have their best three players. To have a 20-point lead and lose by 20, that was embarrassing.”

"That was embarrassing by the Pelicans" 👀

Chuck wasn't impressed by New Orleans losing after having a 20-point lead pic.twitter.com/ZhiOvcjsoG

— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 30, 2024

The Hall of Famer isn’t wrong. The Pelicans struggled on Tuesday night despite the early surge at the beginning of the game. They committed 23 turnovers on the night and allowed the Warriors to score 34 points off those mistakes. In comparison, the Pelicans were only able to create five points off turnovers. Losing the margin by 29 points is nowhere near a winning strategy. 

Despite star forward Zion Williamson having his best game of the season, the team struggled to produce on the court. Zion finished with 31 points after going 12 for 20 from the field and picking up eight rebounds. His other partner in the front court, Brandon Ingram, also scored 30. 

The team is obviously struggling with guard play as it continues to look for an identity without Dejounte Murray. Since the trade, Murray's three main stars, Williamson and Ingram, have yet to play together in live action. Although you have to believe that production in the backcourt will drastically improve once Murray returns in four to six weeks, there is no sample size to tell us for sure. 

It’s easy to point the finger at the ‘injury bug’ on why the Pelicans didn’t perform well throughout the game, but the Warriors are dealing with the same thing. Golden State star guard Steph Curry did not play Tuesday night due to a sprained left ankle he injured in the second half of Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers. Warriors staff stated that he won’t be reevaluated until Friday, meaning he will miss the second game of the series. 

It’s a quick turnaround for the Pelicans, as they will stay put and play the Golden State Warriors once again on Wednesday night. The team will need to start off strong again and limit the turnovers this time.