James Borrego Takes a Clear Jab at Derik Queen & Zion Williamson After Rockets Loss

After briefly looking like a competitive team bringing a fight against good teams, the New Orleans Pelicans came back down to earth over the last week. They lost their fifth straight game on Sunday, suffering a blowout loss against the Houston Rockets, who not only outplayed but also outhustled them all night. Head coach James Borrego was understandably not happy about his team's effort in his post-game remarks. In fact, he almost explicitly criticized Derik Queen and Zion Williamson for their work on the interior and the boards.

When asked about the Pelicans' rebounding struggles, Borrego responded that his team didn't bring enough physicality and rebounding basically "comes down to that... You have to fight, scrap, and claw, and go get an offensive rebound and a defensive rebound. He then added that, "Some guys did [bring physicality], but not everybody," per the Pelicans' official team account on X.

Postgame LIVE: James Borrego#Pelicans | @CaesarsSports https://t.co/AYrbYUz9Lh
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) March 30, 2026

James Borrego Upset With His Team's Rebounding and Alperen Sengun Defense

Borrego was then asked about Rockets star center Alperen Sengun and the challenge he provided for the Pelicans. His response to that question made it obvious who Borrego was talking about in his earlier answer. The interim head coach said, "Yves [Missi] battled him, though. Especially in the second half, he brought some fight to him. I'm not sure anybody else did with him. That's just the reality."

It's not hard to read between the lines and interpret this as a clear shot at Derik Queen and Zion Williamson. Queen finished the game with one defensive rebound in 24 minutes, and Williamson had three defensive rebounds in over 25 minutes of action. If Borrego was happy with Missi's effort against Sengun, that leaves Williamson and Queen as other bigs who were matched up with him for long enough stretches.

Sengun had one of his best games of the season, finishing with 36 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, three steals, and three blocks in less than 32 minutes. He had seven offensive rebounds. Most importantly, the Rockets had 22 offensive rebounds and 37 defensive rebounds in the game, compared to 8 and 28 for the Pelicans, respectively. This difference was the big reason why the Pelicans were outscored by 35 points in Queen's 24 minutes on the court.

The rebounding issue has been a constant problem for the Pelicans all season. Despite the emphasis from Borrego and the coaching staff, the Pelicans have continued to struggle on the boards, especially when Zion Williamson or Derik Queen is on the floor. For the season, the Pelicans give up 31.4% offensive rebounding rate, per Cleaning the Glass, the third-worst number in the league. Williamson and Queen's inability to be physical, box out, and grab a rebound is a big reason for this.

With Williamson's physical and athletic tools, his lack of rebounding is inexcusable. The same is true for Queen. He may not have the length and athleticism of other centers, but he is young, mobile, and has good hands. Being this bad on the boards for a player of his caliber is unacceptable.

Borrego did not name any names, but who he was talking about was fairly obvious. The fact that rebounding and physicality have been major talking points all season, but are still issues at this stage in the season is disappointing. It also raises concern levels not only for the Williamson-Queen pairing going forward, but also for Borrego's job security. Whether things change in the last six games of the season for the Pelicans remains to be seen.