James Borrego is an interim coach in name only.
After the New Orleans Pelicans ran their win streak to five games with a comeback victory Monday night, the front office should go ahead and drop Borrego’s interim tag and name him the full-time coach.
Fifth straight win bolsters James Borrego’s argument to be full-time Pelicans coach
New Orleans used a big fourth quarter — winning the final 12 minutes 40-26 — to defeat the Dallas Mavericks (11-19), 119-113 on Monday. Zion Williamson starred off the bench, scoring a team-high 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Rookie Derik Queen continues to amaze, finishing with 19 points and 11 rebounds — his third consecutive double-double — while adding six assists, two steals and a block.
Borrego has pushed the right buttons for the Pelicans (8-22) after taking over for Willie Green following a 2-10 start. Since Williamson, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft, has returned from a hamstring injury, Borrego has boldly stuck him on the second unit. Two games ago, during a 133-128 comeback win over the Houston Rockets (17-9), he sat Williamson the entire fourth quarter in favor of a hot-shooting lineup.
Against the Mavs, Williamson played over half of the final 12 minutes and scored 10 points on 3-of-3 shooting as New Orleans erased an eight-point deficit.
The team’s overall offensive improvement has been stark. During the first 12 games of the season, the Pelicans averaged 108.4 points per game. Under Borrego, they’re averaging 120.1 points per game.
New Orleans is the league’s best attacking team, ranking first in percent of shots taken at the rim (42.7 percent), per Cleaning The Glass. The league average is 31.6 percent. It’s struggled finishing at the bucket, entering Monday No. 26 in rim field goal percentage (63.1 percent), although those numbers have improved since Borrego was given the interim label.
Only the San Antonio Spurs (21-7) have a longer active win streak (six games) than the Pelicans, who started the year about as poorly as a team possibly could. But they have a lot to be excited about, particularly with rookies Queen and Jeremiah Fears, who chipped in with 12 points against the Mavs and is averaging 15 points per game.
Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones have taken on more vocal, prominent roles with Borrego as head coach, also.
“They’re growing into their roles,” he told reporters earlier this month.