The New Orleans Pelicans will be without point guard Dejounte Murray for an extended period after he suffered a fracture in his left hand, Afrosport reports.
The 28-year-old will be out indefinitely according to a report from the Pelicans after sustaining the injury in their 123-111 win over the Chicago Bulls in their season-opener at the Smoothie King Center on Wednesday night.
A statement from the franchise on Thursday read: “Dejounte Murray suffered a left hand fracture during the fourth quarter of last night’s game against the Chicago Bulls. Medical imaging taken after the game confirmed the injury. He will be out indefinitely and further updates will be appropriately provided.”
Murray finished with 14 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in about 30 minutes of action before leaving the game late in the fourth quarter.
Pelicans Medical Update: pic.twitter.com/jwPDlPkwvO
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) October 24, 2024
Teammate CJ McCollum confirmed after the game that the one-time All-Star informed him of the injury during the game, adding that he, however, played on despite the pain.
“Hopefully, he’s not out too long,” Pelicans guard McCollum said.
“He looked at me and said his hand didn’t feel right,” McCollum said. “He just continued to play. … He battled through, he played and played well considering those circumstances.”
Murray, the 29th overall pick in the 2016 Draft, joined New Orleans this offseason in a trade involving the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks received two future first round draft picks as well as a package of players that included Pelicans 2022 first-round draft choice Dyson Daniels, veteran forward Larry Nance and Cody Zeller via sign-and-trade.
Meanwhile, it is not all doom for the Pelicans as wing Trey Murphy III has been cleared to begin the return-to-play conditioning phase of his rehab, but will be reviewed in another two weeks.
“Trey Murphy III, who sustained a right hamstring strain on October 2nd, has progressed well through the first phase of rehabilitation. He has been cleared to begin the return-to-play conditioning phase of the rehab process. Further updates will be provided in approximately two weeks,” New Orleans revealed.
New Orleans will visit Moda Center in Portland next where they will face the Trail Blazers on Friday night— the first of a four-game road trip.
