The New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies both entered FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee, on Friday night on four-game winning streaks.
The Pelicans were unable to keep their winning ways going, though, falling 139-126 to a Grizzlies team that sits third in the Western Conference standings.
A victory would have given the Pels their first five-game winning streak since March 2023. Not even last season, when the Pels won the second-most games in franchise history, did they win five games in a row.
A streak like that will have to wait as they lost to the Grizzlies for the third time this season. All three losses were by double digits.
The Pelicans were unable to take advantage of a scoring flurry to close out the second quarter.
The Pelicans finished the first half on a 15-2 run and led 71-62 at the break. The 71 points in the first half were a new season-high, surpassing the 67-point first half against the Denver Nuggets in December.
The trio of Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum and Jordan Hawkins sparked the first-half explosion. Murray scored 17 points in the half, while McCollum and Hawkins scored 15 points each. The Pels shot 56% from the floor in the first two quarters.
The Grizzlies (30-15), the NBA’s highest-scoring team, withstood it though, outscoring the Pelicans 43-29 in the third quarter. The Pels were outscored 77-55 in the second half. That tied a season-high for most points allowed in a half by the Pelicans.
“I thought we started off the game in the first half really good,” said Pelicans coach Willie Green. “Solid on both ends, forcing them to take contested shots. The second half was totally different. They came out and they were the aggressors and we could never get back into a rhythm and settle the game down.”
Memphis averages a league-best 123.3 points per game and hit that mark five minutes into the fourth quarter to take a 124-112 lead.
“It was just a tale of two halves and we have to be consistent for four quarters,” Green said.
There was no Zion Williamson or Ja Morant on the court Friday, which has often been the case when the Pelicans and Grizzlies play.
This latest game in Memphis was the 21st time the Pelicans and Grizzlies have played since Williamson and Morant were selected first and second, respectively, in the 2019 NBA Draft. The two faces of their respective franchises have played against each other in just eight of those games.
Williamson, who missed Monday’s game against the Utah Jazz with an illness, was ruled out on Thursday for Friday’s game for “return to play reconditioning from the illness.” Morant also missed the game with an illness.
The Pelicans could have used Williamson, who has missed all three games against the Grizzlies this season. He is expected to play Saturday when the Pelicans play the second game of back-to-back games in Charlotte against the Hornets.
The Pelicans had four players score 20 or more points. Murray led the way with 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds. McCollum and Trey Murphy had 22 each, and Hawkins had 20.
“Really solid night offensively,” Green said. “It was the other side of the ball that hurt us tonight.”
