New Orleans Pelicans Star Sidelined Indefinitely With Fractured Hand

The Pelicans won the game against the Chicago Bulls but lost their starting point guard to a hand injury.

Oct 23, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray (5) guards Chicago Bulls guard Coby White (0) during the second half at Smoothie King Center. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

When it rains, it pours for the New Orleans Pelicans. Fresh off their first victory of the season, news came down postgame that guard Dejounte Murray may have a fractured left hand. Shams Charania from ESPN tweeted the breaking news less than a half hour after New Orleans' 123-111 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Murray made his Pelicans debut on Wednesday night and performed well, nearly managing a triple-double with 14 points, ten assists, and eight rebounds. The former All-Star guard was listed as questionable earlier in the week after being away from the team for personal reasons. Murray returned to shootaround on Wednesday in time to practice and play in the team's season opener.

New Orleans was already playing without Zion Williamson (illness) and Trey Murphy III (hamstring), and Murray picked up the slack, along with teammate Brandon Ingram, who had a game-high 33 points. The Pelicans acquired the former Hawks guard this offseason in exchange for Larry Nance, Jr., Dyson Daniels, E.J. Liddell, Cody Zeller, and two future first-round picks.

Likely the play where Dejounte injured his left hand. He didn't want to be helped up by that hand pic.twitter.com/P8OYQGcERx

— Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) October 24, 2024

The injury occurred late in the fourth quarter after Murray attempted a three-point shot and was fouled. He attempted the foul shots and played the remainder of the game. Murray had imaging done on his hand Wednesday night to determine the extent of the injury, and the scanning confirmed the fracture to his off-hand. New Orleans listed the former All-Star guard as out indefinitely on their official injury report.

Murray will seek a specialist to determine if surgery will be necessary to fix the fracture. Having surgery would add to the potential timeline to return to the court for the Seattle, Washington native. Without their new point guard on the floor, the Pelicans will probably go back to a familar lineup, with veteran guard CJ McCollum running point guard again.

One bright spot is the return of star forward Zion Williamson back to practice. With Murray sidelined, expect more opportunities for Williamson to bring the ball up the court and initiate the offense. For the last couple of seasons, the Pelicans have unleashed 'Point Zion' and have found moderate success in doing so. The Pelicans must adapt quickly to life without Murray for the forseeable future.

New Orleans plays its next four games on the road, starting with Friday night's contest against the Portland Trail Blazers. The team doesn't return home until November 1st to face the Indiana Pacers and then Murray's former team, the Atlanta Hawks.