As standings in the West tighten, Pelicans have to improve in closing out games

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - At the ‘end’ of the Pelicans’ recent 5-game road trip, we got yet another reminder that this team needs to be ‘better’ in close games.

The Pelicans wrapped up their five-game road trip with a close five-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks, missing an opportunity to clinch a tiebreaker with the Southwest Division rival.

It’s the seventh game of the season the Pels have lost by 5 points or fewer.

“I think the improvement area for us is the last five minutes of the game, those clutch situations, we’ve talked about it as a team, taking care of the basketball, making sure we get quality shots, making sure we secure the rebound on the defensive end,” said coach Willie Green. “That’s our area of improvement.”

Willie Green says the team does practice being in those late-game scenarios and he’s hoping with more experience they’ll be able to win more clutch games.

“We have communication about it,” Green said. “And we get on the floor and work on it. And honestly, I don’t know if there’s any other way but to go on the floor, put four or five minutes up, and put us in scenarios that we’re in, and we just continue to try to work on it.”

“We’re a young team, so we’re a little foreign to experience in some of these cases,” said forward Trey Murphy III. “We’re going through it in practice. It’s obviously not the same pressure or intensity but we’ve seen it before. And it definitely helps when we get in those late-game scenarios.”

“Obviously, the more reps you get in certain clutch situations, the better it’s going to be for us,” said power forward Larry Nance Jr. “We have guys that haven’t been in playoff games, that haven’t been in major games. And so as much as you can emulate situations, emulate situations in practice that you’re going to see in games is key. And so Willie’s done a great job of putting us in position to kind of practice those it’s been great.”

The Pelicans return to action in the Smoothie King Center on Wednesday at 7 p.m. to host the Hornets. Friday they have another home game against the star-studded Phoenix Suns led by Kevin Durant. That game will air live on Fox 8.

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