The game against the Miami Heat took an anxious turn for the New Orleans Pelicans and the home crowd. Late in a very tight game, their best offensive layer had to leave the court. The Pelicans are falling behind 111-119 in the final seconds of the game after Trey Murphy III had to leave the court suddenly in the second half. Without him, the inevitable happened. The Pelicans lost 111-123, ending their two-game winning streak, and fell further to a 15-41 record.

He hurt his shoulder during a play and left the court. The Pelicans officially ruled him out for the rest of the game which was the final quarter. It was unlikely he would’ve returned in the last few minutes to close the game anyway.

He had played for almost 30 minutes, and finished with 19 points on a 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 3-for-3 from the free throw line. He added another 4 rebounds and 6 assists to his tally for the night.

After the game, the Pelicans announced that he is suffering from right shoulder soreness. They haven’t specified his availability going forward.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of this is that there’s no indication of what happened and how he got hurt. We’d have to wait for an updated injury report from the team to confirm the severity of it or if he’d be missing more games.

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Trey Murphy III’s injury status caused turmoil to fans

Across 52 appearances for the Pelicans, including tonight, Trey Murphy III has been instrumental in keeping them afloat in a very turbulent season. He’s averaging a career best 22.2 points on a 47.7.% shooting from the field and a reliable 38% from the arc, 5.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.5 steals in 35.8 minutes.  Murphy has been averaging 29.5 PPG in the month of February alone, the 3rd highest in the NBA.

Clearly the team depends on him being on the floor. He was even an untouchable asset before the trade deadline.

When he didn’t return in the final quarter, fans had questions. Maybe the tanking epidemic in the NBA has left fans jaded or Draymond Green is upset that the Warriors didn’t get Murphy like they wanted, but the cynics questioned James Borrego’s intentions when Murphy didn’t return.

The Pelicans are out of play-in contention at this point and very little is salvageable. It’s, of course, a little extreme to suggest the Pelicans intentionally benched Murphy.

The only hope for them is that the forward’s injury doesn’t look very serious. A sore shoulder might not keep him out for too long. With the All-Star break, he could have some well-deserved rest and return for the Pelicans’ next matchup after the break on February 20.