NEW ORLEANS — As Dejounte Murray felt his team putting the final touches on a 123-111 victory in his New Orleans Pelicans debut Wednesday night, the veteran point guard kept feeling a much sharper sensation in his left hand.
As the clock was winding down, he kept flexing his hand, hoping the pain would disappear. After one of his teammates asked if he was OK, Murray finally verbalized the thoughts running through his mind:
“I think I might’ve broke my hand.”
Even after allowing the words to leave his mouth, Murray refused to accept it. He appeared to suffer the injury with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter, but he didn’t sub out of the game until a minute was left.
“He looked at me and said his hand didn’t feel right,” Pelicans guard CJ McCollum said. “He battled through. He played and played well, considering those circumstances.”
Think this may be the play when Dejounte Murray injured his left hand.
As Josh Giddey tries to drive past him, Murray’s hand gets caught on Giddey’s chest/jersey. pic.twitter.com/APHYK2b15E
— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) October 24, 2024
During that stretch, Murray even chipped in an assist on a Brandon Ingram layup and a couple of free throws after getting fouled shooting a 3-pointer. He finished what was supposed to be a successful night in his first appearance as a member of the Pelicans with 14 points, eight rebounds and 10 assists — and, most importantly, a win.
But once he went to the locker room and spoke with team doctors, they confirmed his worst fear. According to a league source, imaging done after the game showed a fracture in his left hand that will keep the Pelicans’ starting point guard and biggest offseason acquisition out for the foreseeable future. The severity of the injury and the timetable for it will be determined at a later date.
After spending all offseason learning how to operate with Murray leading the offense, the Pelicans will have to adjust again just one game into the regular season.
It’s gut-wrenching news for a New Orleans squad that came into the season with hopes of returning to the postseason and reshaping its foundation around a new floor general who brings tremendous value on and off the court. But it’s even tougher for Murray, who was already playing with a heavy heart going into Wednesday’s opener.
Dejounte just posted this on IG.
Dejounte is currently away from the team dealing with some personal issues. Status for season opener is still TBD.
Prayers for Dejounte pic.twitter.com/ETwvrHTBOn
— Brady (@sideshowbrady) October 22, 2024
Murray missed several days of practice earlier in the week after leaving the team to deal with a family emergency. He returned to New Orleans on Tuesday evening to make sure he could be there for his team in Wednesday’s opener. After being away from the court for a few days, it looked like he struggled to find his rhythm on offense, but he did all the little things on the floor to make sure his impact was still felt.
That’s part of the reason New Orleans was so persistent in its pursuit of Murray: his toughness, unselfishness, and willingness to contribute whatever is needed to win.
Overcoming heartbreak and impossible odds isn’t anything new for Murray. It’s something he’s dealt with his entire life. This should be another obstacle he eventually overcomes.
“Hopefully, he’s not out too long. But for us, it’s just about figuring out how to produce across the board with other guys consistently getting minutes,” McCollum said. “Guys are ready for more opportunities whenever they may come. … It’s unfortunate that injuries are part of the game, but they happen sometimes. That’s why you need depth on your roster to compete in an 82-game season.”
But what situation will Murray be returning to once he does come back?
Pelicans superstar Zion Williamson was absent from Wednesday’s opener due to an illness that’s kept him sidelined the past few days. As New Orleans prepares to leave Thursday afternoon for a four-game West Coast trip, it’s still unclear if Williamson will be healthy enough to join the team for their flight.
New Orleans has already been without sharpshooter Trey Murphy — who signed a four-year, $112 million contract extension Monday — due to a hamstring strain he suffered earlier this month. Murphy has progressed well in his rehab, but the expectation is that he’s still at least a few weeks away from getting back on the court.
“I don’t know if y’all have been watching our training camp, but we’ve been going through this for weeks,” McCollum joked. “You just control what you can control. … I just worry about today. Tomorrow has enough problems on its own.”
Even if Williamson returns relatively soon, being without Murray and Murphy for an extended period will be a tough hurdle to overcome for a group that lost key bench pieces Naji Marshall and Dyson Daniels during the offseason.
When injuries struck this team in the past, those two were able to step in comfortably and contribute at a high level. Now, younger players like Jordan Hawkins and Yves Missi will be asked to step into bigger roles along with new, veteran acquisition Javonte Green.
With the abundance of talent this team has on the perimeter with guys like McCollum, Ingram, Herb Jones and Jose Alvarado, they have enough to remain competitive and keep the ship afloat until Williamson, Murray and Murphy are fully healthy, but it won’t be easy.
To make matters only more complex, any slippage that comes as a result of these injuries could have a significant effect on a Western Conference playoff race that will be incredibly competitive throughout the entire season. As New Orleans learned the tough way last season, allowing one or two winnable games to get away could be the difference between having home-court advantage and being in the Play-In Tournament — or out of the playoffs altogether.
Battling through this adversity and finding ways to stack wins will be critical for the Pelicans to reach their ultimate goal.
But with Murray out, this team will continue its uphill battle to establish chemistry and cohesion with a group that still hasn’t spent very much time on the court together.
Murphy has been out since the start of October. Ingram missed the first two games of the preseason to get himself physically prepared for the regular season. Williamson also sat out the final game of the preseason.
To this point, Williamson, Murray and Ingram have yet to step on the court together in a game situation.
Once Williamson is back, there will be an adjustment period. Then, another once Murphy is back. And another once Murray finally returns.
As other teams around the West are establishing an identity and laying a foundation for how they want to perform in March and April, the Pelicans will have to keep aiming at a moving target.
For this franchise, which has already dealt with so much on the injury front in recent years, this outcome on opening night had to be infuriating. Pelicans fans often joke about their team being cursed because of all the hardship it’s had to deal with. Once something like this happens on opening night, it confirms all those feelings of inevitability whenever bad news arrives.
But, much like Murray, continually dealing with adversity and immense hardships has hardened this group. They’ve responded extremely well in the past after depressing injury news or when key members of the rotation weren’t around to contribute.
It’s not ideal, but this group has plenty experience responding when its backs are against the wall. Now, it’s time to show that this current group is capable of doing the same.
(Photo of Dejounte Murray being helped up by teammates while he protects his injured left hand: Gerald Herbert / Associated Press)
