## The [New Orleans Pelicans](https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/no/new-orleans-pelicans) melting down in crunch time
On the other end of those two stirring Memphis comebacks: the Pelicans, now 6-8 in games in which the score was within five points in the final five minutes, with the third-worst offensive rating in those games.
The Pels are 7-of-25 from deep in clutch situations. They have 24 turnovers in 55 clutch minutes, including some inexplicable gaffes — botched inbounds passes, fumbled handoffs, dropped balls.
But it’s the overall stagnation that stands out amid New Orleans’ crunch-time impotence. They wait too long to get into any action, and too many of their key players spend the full shot clock standing around.
[Zion Williamson](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4395628/zion-williamson) and [Jonas Valanciunas](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/6477/jonas-valanciunas) do nothing the entire possession. [CJ McCollum](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/2490149/cj-mccollum) does nothing between his token entry pass and serving as a one-on-one bailout.
This is a collision of bad shooting luck and lack of reps, compatibility and perhaps even trust — or at least a clear conception of the hierarchy on offense. In the scheme of things, Williamson, Ingram and McCollum have not played much together. Their skill sets are not so naturally compatible — at least not within this roster — so building chemistry will take time.
That process gets harder if three of the crunch-time five are non-threats from deep, as when Williamson, Valanciunas and [Herbert Jones](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4277813/herbert-jones) play together.
One note on that stalled possession: Trey Murphy III was on the floor over Jones. Earlier in that fourth quarter, New Orleans used Murphy in a super-sized lineup without a traditional guard — Murphy, Ingram, Jones, Williamson and Valanciunas. Murphy played the entire overtime. He played most of the 4th quarter in New Orleans’ clutch win over the Utah Jazz Thursday night.
The early results are scattershot, but it is healthy for coach Willie Green to try more lineups with Murphy over one (current) starter. He just has to play more. He brings too much of what the team needs on both ends.
by kingralek
1 Comment
I know there’s currently a zeal to have your best player assume point guard duties right now (regardless of that player’s position) in the NBA, but there’s room on this team for a traditional point guard. The Pels don’t lack for talent on the floor at any given time during a game, but they are lacking in late-game, clutch situations where ball-handling, penetration, passing and decision-making are at a premium.
The whole “throw it into BI at the elbow and let him figure it out while the other four stand on the perimeter and wait for something to happen” seems to be both the best option the coaching staff can present and the easiest, most predictable thing for opposing coaches to scheme against.