In a 59-second span near the end of the third quarter, Trey Murphy went from warm to as hot as the surface of the sun.
The New Orleans Pelicans third-year forward sank three 3-pointers in less than one minute. Murphy’s strikes from 28, 26 and 26 feet gave him a new career high and allowed the New Orleans Pelicans to blow the game open against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Murphy scored 41 points as the Pelicans blasted the Trail Blazers in a 127-110 win Sunday at Smoothie King Center.
The Pelicans, who scored 96 points in Saturday’s loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, responded to that disappointment with one of their best offensive nights of the season. New Orleans (33-35) won easily without Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson, who missed their 37th and 39th games of the season, respectively.
The Pelicans’ offense has looked anemic for most of 2023. They entered Sunday’s game ranked 21st in points scored per 100 possessions in the new year.
New Orleans has had issues scoring against zone defenses recently. Portland began the game in a 2-3 zone. Surprisingly, New Orleans solved it quickly.
Murphy, Herb Jones and CJ McCollum were bursting with energy on the second night of a back-to-back. Murphy and McCollum combined for 26 points in the first quarter, and Jones seemed to be everywhere at once defensively.
The Pelicans had a 17-point advantage after one quarter, and they never took their foot off the accelerator. They dominated the matchup of two injury depleted teams.
Ingram missed a second consecutive game with a right ankle sprain. Pelicans coach Willie Green said Ingram went through pregame warmups but was still “feeling a bit of soreness.”
The Trail Blazers did not have Damian Lillard, their leading scorer. Lillard was downgraded from probable to out with a calf injury roughly an hour before tipoff. It was the type of break the struggling Pelicans needed.
The 127 points the Pelicans scored were their most in a game since Feb. 5.
Murphy obliterated his previous career high of 32 points. He poured in 15 points in the third quarter. His flurry of 3s late in the third pushed him to 39 points. He crossed the 40-point mark with a twisting dunk in the fourth quarter. He subbed out of the game for good with 10:40 remaining. At the time, the Pelicans had a 39-point lead.
McCollum was New Orleans’ second-leading scorer. He finished with 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting. Josh Richardson came off the bench to contribute 19 points.
The Pelicans next play Tuesday. They face the Los Angeles Lakers in a game that has Western Conference play-in tournament implications.
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