Dejounte Murray, the guy brought in to usher New Orleans to a new era of success, fell victim on opening night to one of the things that has slowed them in recent years — injuries.
Murray reportedly fractured his hand, a story first reported by Shams Charania of ESPN and confirmed by other reports. While it is impossible to say how long he will be out without more details on the injury (something that will come out over the next few days), a best-case scenario of a non-displaced fracture would likely still mean a month or more on the sidelines (based on Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes previous reports).
The injury appeared to happen in the fourth quarter, when Murray was guarding Josh Giddey and the Bulls’ guard drove the lane. Murray’s hand seems to get caught on Giddey’s jersey. Murray stayed in the game after this, attempted a 3 where he was fouled, and remained in the game to take the free throws, but was subbed out after and did not return.
During the next few plays after this one, Murray kept grabbing his hand as he went back on defense.
— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) October 24, 2024
Murray scored 14 points with 10 assists and 8 rebounds in the Pelicans opening night come-from-behind win.
Just a brutal week for Dejounte Murray.
Had to fly home to deal with a family emergency. Flew back to NOLA to be with his team for the season opener. Helped the Pels get a win, but ultimately will be sidelined for the near future with what’s feared to be a fractured left hand.
— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) October 24, 2024
The Pelicans picked up the win behind 33 points from Brandon Ingram, plus 23 points from CJ McCollum. Zion Williamson did not play in the game due to an illness, something the team announced pregame (to raised eyebrows around the league because of his injury history; we’ll see if this is anything). Rookie center Yves Missi had a strong game off the bench for the Pelicans with 12 points and seven rebounds, if he can keep this up it would be a massive boost for a team that is thin at the five.
New Orleans is going to have to keep picking up wins without Murray for a while.
