The basketball gods appear very angry with New Orleans. Trey Murphy III has yet to step on the court this season due to a hamstring injury. Star offseason acquisition Dejounte Murray is out following surgery on a fractured hand.
Now, two more key starters are out, the team announced.
CJ McCollum is expected to miss 2-3 weeks with a right adductor strain. Herbert Jones suffered a right shoulder strain and a small low-grade partial-thickness tear in his rotator cuff that will be reevaluated in 2-4 weeks, but he could be out longer.
That’s four of the team’s top six in their rotation in street clothes.
Brandon Ingram has tried to pick up some of the scoring slack and is leading the team with 22.4 points a game, while shooting 41.4% from 3. Zion Williamson has struggled to start the season, scoring 18.3 points a game but shooting just 36.4% from the floor. With more players out, Zion simply has to play better for this team not to fall back fast.
The Pelicans are 2-3 thanks to a solid defense, but they are 27th in the league on offense — and points are going to be harder to come by with McCollum and his 18.8 points a game going away for a few weeks. The good news for New Orleans is they have seven of their next nine games at home, giving them the chance to keep their heads above water until everyone gets healthy.