New Orleans guard Dejounte Murray left the Pelicans’ game against Boston in the first quarter on Friday night after injuring his lower right leg. The team is now preparing to be without him for a long period once again.
Pelicans coach Willie Green said he briefly saw Murray after the game, which the Pelicans lost 118-116. Murray suffered a non-contact injury and was holding the area around his right Achilles tendon before limping to the bench.
“It’s a challenge. It’s a challenge,” Green said. “I’ll leave it at that.”
Green didn’t give a diagnosis of the injury, but he mentioned that Murray, who missed 17 games earlier this season with a broken hand, would undergo imaging. “We’ll have an update after that,” Green said.
While not sharing what Murray said, Jose Alvarado mentioned that his injured teammate spoke to the group at halftime.
“He’s one of the toughest soldiers I know,” Alvarado said. “He’s so tough mentally — at least what he shows to us. He held his head high. He was waiting for us at halftime. He told us the news, and I think I shed a tear. He’s just so solid. He going to be our leader. I told him, ‘I send my prayers up to you.’”
Murray had driven into the lane and taken a shot, then went after his missed attempt. However, he fell and grabbed at the area near his right foot. When he got up, he limped toward the bench.
“It hurt a lot, I can’t lie to you,” said Trey Murphy III, who scored 40 points in the loss. “He’s been through a lot already, and it doesn’t help. But a lot of times God puts you through situations in order to give you a bigger message. I think that’s what’s happening right now. It’s not always easy to understand what he’s saying, but there’s always a reason.”
After the injury, the Pelicans quickly announced that Murray would not return to the game.
“Extremely difficult, when you see a guy that means so much to our team and puts the work in go down like that,” Green said. “We’ll continue to pray for him and see what happens once he gets the imaging.”
The injury-prone Pelicans were already without Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and Herb Jones.
“Those are the challenges that we’ve been going through pretty much all season,” Green said.
The Pelicans (12-37) are second to last in the Western Conference and far from the playoff race. Losing Murray again would only add to the frustration of a season that’s gone badly for New Orleans.
“We’ll make sure we continue to support him,” Green said. “We’ll wait for the results, but whatever the case we’ll make sure we’re there to support him.”
