The New Orleans Pelicans’ coaching change didn’t produce much of an improvement in the first game.
The second game might have been worse.
The Pelicans followed their 124-106 loss to Golden State in their first game under interim coach James Borrego on Sunday night with a 126-109 thrashing at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night in the Smoothie King Center.
New Orleans allowed a season-worst 44 first-quarter points against Golden State, then topped that by allowing 49 in the first quarter against Oklahoma City. The Pelicans’ 21 turnovers against the Warriors led to 27 points, and their 22 turnovers against the Thunder led to 31 points.
The loss was New Orleans’ sixth straight and came 15 days after a 137-106 loss to the Thunder in Oklahoma City while Willie Green was still the team’s coach.
The Pelicans (2-12) will try to salvage one win from their five-game home stand in the finale at 7 p.m. Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets.
New Orleans played without Zion Williamson (left hamstring strain), who was a game-time decision but missed his eighth consecutive game, and Saddiq Bey, who was a late addition to the injury report with a sprained left ankle. Jordan Poole remained sidelined by a quad strain.
Rookie Jeremiah Fears scored a season-high 24 point for the Pelicans, Trey Murphy had 18, rookie Micah Peavy had a season-high 16, Jordan Hawkins scored 11 and Karlo Matkovic chipped in 10.
Borrego opted to start New Orleans’ tallest lineup of the season by pairing 6-foot-11 Yves Missi and 6-10 rookie Derik Queen.
The Pelicans finished with a 38-35 disadvantage on the boards even though they grabbed just three rebounds in the first quarter when Oklahoma City missed just 7 of 22 shots.
Chet Holmgren scored 26 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 23, Luguentz Dort had 17, Isaiah Hartenstein added 16, Isaiah Joe had 14 and Ajay Mitchell put in 11 for the reigning NBA champion Thunder (14-1).
Oklahoma City removed any lingering doubt about the outcome when it started the third quarter with a 24-11 spurt that produced a 93-67 lead midway through the period on its way to a 106-80 cushion entering the fourth quarter.
Fears scored the Pelicans’ first six points, but the Thunder made four consecutive 3-pointers to race to a 20-6 lead after less than five minutes. Oklahoma City led by as many as 27 on its way to a 49-24 lead at the end of the quarter.
Murphy scored 11 points in the second quarter, and Fears’ three-point play trimmed the lead to 69-56 at halftime.
