Pelicans Find Rhythm in Chicago: Zion, Murphy III Lead Charge Past Bulls 114-104
It wasn’t pretty for the Pelicans, and for long stretches, it certainly wasn’t graceful. But when you’re sitting at the bottom of the standings trying to relearn how to win, style points don’t matter nearly as much as the final score.
For the New Orleans Pelicans, Sunday night at the United Center was less about dominance and more about resilience. In a choppy, physical contest where offensive rhythm was hard to come by, New Orleans leaned on their returning star and a collective grit to muscle past the Chicago Bulls, 114-104.
The victory marked a second consecutive win for the Pelicans (5-22), a small but significant spark for a team that has spent much of the season looking for a light at the end of the tunnel.
Zion Williamson Returns to Power the Paint
The headline coming into the night was the return of Zion Williamson. After missing five games, the Pelicans’ franchise cornerstone was back in the lineup, and his presence was felt exactly when it mattered most.
Williamson finished with 18 points and six rebounds, but the box score doesn’t quite capture the emotional lift he provided down the stretch. With the game hanging in the balance in the fourth quarter, Williamson took over. He scored seven of his points in the final frame, including a thunderous alley-oop dunk with 37 seconds remaining that effectively put the game on ice.
“It’s great, having all the guys ready to go,” teammate Trey Murphy III said postgame. “That’s the biggest thing right now.”
It wasn’t just Williamson doing the heavy lifting inside, though. The Pelicans made a concerted effort to own the interior, outscoring Chicago 60-46 in the paint and dominating the glass with a 53-43 rebounding advantage. In a game where jump shots weren’t falling consistently for either side, that physical edge proved to be the difference-maker.
Murphy III and Fears Provide Critical Spark
While Williamson provided the closing act, Trey Murphy III and rookie Jeremiah Fears were the engines that kept the Pelicans moving for 48 minutes.
Murphy continued his impressive run of form, notching a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. He was everywhere—attacking in transition, battling on the glass, and providing a stabilizing force when the offense stagnated.
“He does it in transition, he’s doing it in the paint, off ball, on ball,” Pelicans coach James Borrego said of Murphy.
Perhaps the most heartwarming narrative of the night belonged to Jeremiah Fears. Playing in his hometown of Chicago, the rookie guard rose to the occasion, matching Murphy with 20 points of his own. Fears was electric in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 points in the final frame, including a crucial driving finger roll and several assists that set up the Pelicans’ closing run.
DeAndre Jordan was seen congratulating Fears after the buzzer, acknowledging the special moment of getting a win in front of a hometown crowd.
Defensive Gritweathers the Storm
Offensively, this was a grind. The Pelicans shot just 24.2% from three-point range, and the Bulls weren’t much better at 26.5%. With shots clanging off the rim, the game turned into a defensive slugfest.
New Orleans held firm. They didn’t allow the Bulls to score 30 points in any single quarter, a testament to the defensive intensity Borrego has been preaching.
“We took a step forward defensively,” Borrego noted.
That defense was tested severely in the third quarter. After the Pelicans opened up a 13-point lead, Chicago went on a furious 16-2 run, fueled by Coby White (20 points) and Kevin Huerter (16 points). The momentum swung entirely to the home team, and for a moment, it looked like New Orleans might fold as they have so often this season.
Turning the Corner?
Instead of collapsing, the Pelicans responded. They regained composure in the fourth, outscoring Chicago 38-29 to close the game. Jordan Poole chipped in with 16 points, hitting key buckets to help stretch the lead back out.
For a team that has endured a brutal seven-game losing streak recently, these last two wins offer a glimpse of what this roster can look like when healthy and engaged. It’s not about making a playoff push right this second; it’s about establishing an identity.
Sunday night in Chicago proved that this Pelicans squad, despite their record, still has plenty of fight left.
The Pelicans will look to extend their winning streak to three as they continue their road trip, hoping to build on the defensive foundation they laid at the United Center.
