Pelicans aren't panicking despite losing 9 of their last 12

Following Sunday’s loss to the Miami Heat, the New OrleansPelicans have now dropped nine of their last 12 games – includingfour-straight losses.

In defense of the short-handed Pelicans, this is a brutalstretch of their schedule and many of the losses have been tocontenders – such as the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers,Memphis Grizzlies and Brooklyn Nets. However, they also had a13-point loss against the Orlando Magic on Friday.

“We have to find our defensive identity," Pelicans head coachWillie Green said after the loss in Orlando. "Right now, we’re notguarding the way we’re capable of. Those are things that we cancontrol; we can make a decision as a team that we want to guardbetter, and we just haven’t been doing it...

"We just didn’t get into the ball. I didn’t feel like they feltus much in terms of guarding the ball. Then, when we did haveopportunities to stop them, our discipline has to be better. We’refouling guys, putting guys at the free throw line.”

Trey Murphy III agreed with Green's assessment that thedefensive intensity has been lacking.

“Teams have to feel us,” Murphy said. “They have to feel ourdefensive pressure because that is what we are built on: pressuringthe ball, forcing turnovers and just being a good teamdefense.”

On the season, the Pelicans have the NBA's eighth-ranked defense(allowing 109.5 points per 100 possessions). However, during thisrecent 12-game stretch, New Orleans' defense is allowing 116.5points per 100 possessions, which ranks 17th league-wide over thatspan.

However, the Pelicans’ offense has fallen off in recent weekstoo. Prior to this slump, they had the NBA's fourth-ranked offense– scoring 116.8 points per 100 possessions. But since Dec. 31, NewOrleans’ has the NBA’s 28th-ranked offense, scoring just 109.2points per 100 possessions.

It must be noted that the Pelicans aren't at full strength, asBrandon Ingram (toe) and Zion Williamson (hamstring) have beensidelined in recent weeks and Herb Jones (lower back bruise) justreturned to the lineup after missing several games.

“It’s not an excuse, but obviously it is. Having your fullroster makes it a little bit easier,” Murphy said. “You are playingyour rotations. There are a lot of guys that are stepping up. Wehave a next-man-is-up mentality, but it is always nice to have twoAll-Stars in your rotation. You are missing about 40 points on avery low night.”

“That’s part of the journey,” Green said of the injuries. “Youdig down and go back once again, you watch some film, you try tofigure out what are the things we’re doing well… and where are someareas where we can improve on. Guys being in and out of therotation is part of the NBA. There are many teams dealing with it,not just us. We’ll continue to search and figure it out.”

Despite their recent struggles, the Pelicans aren’tpanicking.

“No, not even a little bit. There is no panic at all,” Murphysaid. “It is a long season. There’s ups-and-downs that you have todeal with during an 82-game season, playing for five or six months.You can’t panic over a month’s stretch.”

“No concerns… It’s part of the NBA season,” Green added. “Weunderstand where we are. We’ll keep working, keep getting better.Nobody’s going to come save us. We have to continue to play andtrust each other, which our guys do for the most part. Continue tocompete and believe in our capabilities.”

The Pelicans should get Ingram and Williamson back relativelysoon. In the meantime, they know that they can't let the lossespull them apart.

“[We need to] stay together… I think that is the main thing,”Murphy said. “We went through this a lot last year where we lost alot of games in a row and we just stayed together. I think that iswhat really helped us and propelled us to the postseason, becausewe never went our separate ways and started blaming each other andpointing fingers.”

After playing seven of their last eight games on the road, thePelicans will start a three-game homestand on Tuesday against theDenver Nuggets.