The New Orleans Pelicans battled valiantly despite a depleted roster but couldn’t overcome Tyrese Haliburton’s brilliance in a 114-110 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Monday night. Haliburton’s season-high nine three-pointers, including a critical tiebreaker with 3:06 left, proved too much for the shorthanded Pelicans to handle.
The Pacers’ All-Star guard finished with 34 points and 13 assists, punctuating his performance by setting up Bennedict Mathurin’s alley-oop dunk in the final minute to ice the game.
Trey Murphy III paced the Pelicans with a season-high-tying 24 points, while CJ McCollum added 23 in his return after nearly a month away. Elfrid Payton also shined, dishing out a career-high 21 assists, the most by any player in the league this season.
Yet, without key starters Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, Herbert Jones, and Dejounte Murray, the Pelicans struggled to execute late. A five-game losing streak now looms as they prepare to regroup against the Toronto Raptors (4-14). Though McCollum’s return offered hope, the loss underscored the urgency of getting their core healthy to halt the slide.
