The New Orleans Pelicans are the lowest-scoring team in the NBA.
That weakness was at the forefront of the team’s ninth consecutive loss, a 115-98 setback against the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night in the Smoothie King Center.
The Pelicans (2-15), who host the Chicago Bulls on Monday night, played without leading scorer Zion Williamson and never got on track offensively against the Hawks (10-7). They fell well short of their scoring average (109.3 points per game).
Trey Murphy scored 19 points, Saddiq Bey had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Derik Queen scored 20 and Jeremiah Fears had 11 to lead the Pelicans, who led by four points after one quarter but scored just 45 combined points in the second and third quarters.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 29 points, Jalen Johnson had 18 points and 11 rebounds, Vit Krejci scored 21, former Pelican Dyson Daniels added 14, and former Pelican Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 11 to lead Atlanta.
Williamson didn’t play because of load management on the back end of games on consecutive nights just three days after he returned from an eight-game absence because of a strained hamstring. The Pelicans lost at Dallas, 118-115, on Friday night.
Herb Jones (right calf soreness/lower back strain) was sidelined for the first time this season, leading New Orleans to use its 11th different starting lineup. Rookie second-round draft choice Micah Peavy started in Jones’ place.
Murphy made a 3-pointer to start the third-quarter scoring and pull New Orleans within seven points, but the Pelicans couldn’t keep pace with Atlanta.
Porzingis scored seven points and Zaccharie Risacher had six during a 23-11 spurt that gave the Hawks a 79-60 lead before they held an 88-70 edge entering the fourth quarter.
A significant portion of the crowd was comprised of boisterous Atlanta fans who presumably took advantage of the opportunity to watch not only the Hawks but also the Atlanta Falcons, who will play the Saints on Sunday in the Caesars Superdome.
Both teams shot poorly in the early going, but the Pelicans managed a 13-6 lead as Daniels was the only Hawk to score during the first 6½ minutes. Atlanta got as close as one point before Murphy and Jordan Hawkins each hit a 3-pointer, helping New Orleans take a 25-21 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Porzingis (14 points) and Johnson (11 points) combined to outscore the Pelicans in the second quarter. Atlanta had a 35-21 scoring edge in the period and led by as many as 12 points before holding a 56-46 halftime lead.