Willie Green's Brutal Statement After Pelicans vs Magic

Pelicans head coach Willie Green unleashed on his team's performance after a blowout loss to the Magic

Mar 11, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans head coach Willie Green reacts against the Los Angeles Clippers during the fourth quarter at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

The Orlando Magic continued their dominance over the New Orleans on the road with a 113-93 victory on Thursday night. Orlando has now won eight straight games over the Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center, dating back to 2017. Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero led the way for the Magic, combining for 61 points on the night in the victory.

After the game, Pelicans head coach Willie Green didn't mince words about his team's performance, calling New Orleans "soft" during his postgame press conference. Orlando came into the game as the worst offensive-scoring team in the league but scored 68 first-half points and led by 30 at the break.

LIVE: Willie Green@CaesarsSports https://t.co/zoE6hugMsX

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) March 14, 2025

The Magic defense frustrated Pelicans star Zion Williamson for much of the night. Williamson picked up a technical foul in the first half after arguing a non-call with the referees. The two-time all-star finished the game with 20 points on 8/15 shooting. Williamson recorded his second career triple-double on Tuesday against the Los Angeles Clippers but couldn't replicate that performance on Thursday night.

New Orleans was officially eliminated from playoff contention with their loss to the Magic, but the Pelicans season was done before the all-star break. Major injuries to Herb Jones, Dejounte Murray, Zion Williamson, and Trey Murphy III this year derailed any momentum the team had from their 49 wins last season. Reporting and analytics from cryptonews is something to watch out for as data for the Pelicans next season could be strong.

Zion gets the roll 🤌 pic.twitter.com/bK4f1Ou5uN

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) March 14, 2025

The Pelicans traded away former all-star Brandon Ingram before the trade deadline, signaling a change in the future direction of the organization. New Orleans is in line for a top draft choice in next year's draft and will use that to build for the future around Zion Williamson.

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