Pelicans' Repeated Clutch Struggles Have Led to Disastrous Season

The New Orleans Pelicans are struggling mightily to execute on both ends during crunch time.

Dec 26, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Dillon Brooks (3) calls for a foul against New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) during the first half at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

Old habits are hard to break for the New Orleans Pelicans. On Monday night, the team faltered down the stretch once again in their 130-125 loss to the New York Knicks, marking the third straight “clutch” game the team lost. A clutch game is defined as any game within five points in the final five minutes of the contest, and the Pelicans seem to find themselves on the losing end of them more often than not.

Interim head coach James Borrego spoke post-game about the small details needed to win close games in the NBA. “We have to figure out closing games”, Borrego said after the Knicks' loss. “Sometimes it’s simply making a shot, bottom line. Sometimes it’s execution, sometimes it’s a little bit of both. You need a stop, you need something down the stretch.”

Jordan Poole might’ve just taken the worst shot in the clutch I’ve ever seen. Gifted the Knicks the win. pic.twitter.com/KZgNgGC2vA

— Dylan Backer (@DylanBackerESM) December 30, 2025

Pelicans' Clutch Struggles Are a Big Reason for Disappointing Season

New Orleans is currently tied for seventh in clutch games played this season (18), but they are just 5-13 in those games, near the bottom of the league in win percentage. Monday’s game was a microcosm of the up-and-down nature of most of these contests for the Pelicans. In the final 2:14 seconds, the Knicks outscored New Orleans 10-4 after the Pelicans had been successful offensively for most of the game. The Pelicans scored 75 first-half points, the most New York has allowed in a half this season.

Down the stretch, New Orleans was left without a timeout for the last four minutes of the game because of having to challenge a couple of calls earlier. The offense was slightly disjointed late, with a couple of ill-advised shots by Jordan Poole, and the Pelicans were unable to get timely stops, giving up a big offensive rebound that led to a Knicks basket.

The numbers bear out the offensive and defensive ineptitude late in games. During clutch time, New Orleans has an offensive rating of 97.5, which ranks 27th in the league. Their defensive rating is 120.2, leaving them with a net rating of -22.7, the third-worst in the NBA.

Some of the struggles offensively are tied to the “math problem” for the Pelicans. New Orleans leads the league in points in the paint at 58.2 points per game, but they are 28th in three-point attempts (31.3) and dead last in three-pointers made (10.7) per game. During clutch minutes, the Pelicans make only 0.7 shots from beyond the arc, allowing more superior shooting teams to outscore them late. Trading threes for twos is not the recipe for success when trying to close out a team.

The team also struggles to close out possessions on the defensive end. New Orleans gave up a staggering 38 offensive rebounds combined in the two losses to the Phoenix Suns this past weekend. Opponents have a 28.9% offensive rebounding rate against New Orleans, putting them second-worst in the league in stopping opponents on the offensive glass. Their smaller lineups late in games may help them with pace, but they do no favors by ending possessions for the other team.

The Pelicans have to ask themselves, do they have ‘the guy’ to close out and win games for them?

Zion Williamson would seem like the likely candidate, but he doesn’t attempt any threes and shoots less than 70% from the free-throw line for his career. Trey Murphy III is an excellent shooter, but sometimes gets lost in the offensive pecking order late in games. Despite playing the most fourth-quarter minutes on the team Monday night, Murphy III took just one shot in the final eight minutes of the game. Poole has been wildly inconsistent late in games, and the rookies have been in and out of the lineup when the game is on the line.

With the February 5 trade deadline looming, the Pelicans face a crossroads. Do they double down on this core, hoping that "clutch luck" regresses to the mean, or do they view these late-game collapses as a sign that the roster needs a fundamental reshaping?