Willie Green's Honest Statement After Pelicans vs Pacers Game

Pelicans head coach Willie Green gave some honest remarks after his team's latest defeat.

Nov 19, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; New Orleans Pelicans head coach Willie Green yells to his team during the first half against the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Pelicans lost another game, this time to the Indiana Pacers 114-110 on Monday night. The loss marks the Pelicans' fifth straight and ninth of their last ten. Coach Willie Green addressed the media postgame, and while he doesn't believe in moral victories, he was satisfied with the team's effort even in defeat.

"I'll give our guys credit. They battled their tails off", Green said in his postgame presser. "The effort was there. The competitiveness was there." Indiana jumped out to a quick 17-point lead in the first quarter, but the Pelicans slowly chipped into the lead and gave themselves a chance at the end because of solid contributions from the team, including by rookie Yves Missi.

"Another big performance from Yves. He was battling a shoulder injury the last few days... He showed up huge tonight, big time effort on both ends of the court. The sky is the limit for him."

-- Willie Green on Yves Missi's performance tonight pic.twitter.com/ppapIVEAhn

— Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) November 26, 2024

New Orleans welcomed back the return of guard CJ McCollum from injury, who missed the last 14 games with a right abductor strain. McCollum scored 23 points on 9/20 in his return to action. His backcourt mate, Elfrid Payton, recorded a career-high 21 assists in the loss. Payton signed a one-year deal with the Pelicans just two weeks ago, after formerly working out with the team during training camp in Nashville, Tennessee earlier this summer.

There are no moral victories in the NBA, but considering the amount of injuries on this team, the Pelicans are just trying to survive until they can get healthy again. On Monday, New Orleans played without Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray, Herb Jones, and Jose Alvarado. Ingram is day-to-day with calf soreness, and Murray expects to return to the lineup on Wednesday after fracturing his hand during the team's season opener against the Bulls.

New Orleans must find a way to string victories together before it's too late to compete for a playoff spot. Last season, the team won 49 games, the second most in franchise history. This year, the team is already ten games under .500 and running short on time to turn it back around.

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