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Andrew LopezESPN
New Orleans — New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy He stopped Wednesday night’s postgame press conference and said he would dedicate the past two games to the three Virginia football players who were shot dead earlier this week.
Lavel Davis, Devin Chandler, and D’Sean Perry were killed in a shooting Sunday night on a chartered bus after students returned to campus from a field trip in Washington, DC.
Murphy, in his second year with the Pelicans, played his junior season in 2019-20 for Virginia. He said Davis “was a good friend of mine.”
“I was really sad to miss him,” Murphy said. “He was a really special person. So please keep praying for their families. Thank you.”
After news of the shooting broke Monday morning, Murphy tweeted, “Pray for your friends at UVA. Check your friends at UVA.”
Murphy’s words on Wednesday followed one of the best performances of his young NBA career. and achieved his first career double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Murphy thought he locked up a double-double in the third quarter when he tapped the rebound. Larry Nance Jr.It was controlled, but due to a change in the official scorer, the board was given to Nance.Murphy checked in late in the game and grabbed the rebound from center Willie Hernangomez to make sure number 10 belongs to him.
When asked if he apologized for stealing Hernangomez’s rebound, Murphy leaned directly into the podium microphone and said, “Absolutely not. And I’ll steal it again.”
Murphy started two straight games for the Pelicans on Wednesday. Zion Williamson Missed due to a bruise on his right leg. He was 5/6 with 3 points, including his one from his 34th foot.
Murphy also set a career-high three steals and had a block that led to a dunk past the Bulls’ center Nikola Bucevich.
“He’s just getting better and better,” said Pelicans manager Willie Green. “He’s locked in and focused. On defense, he jumps around, blocks shots, bounces the ball, and the ball finds energy. We know Trey can shoot the ball he can shoot the cover off the ball and when they get in the paint everyone is looking for him and he’s come to the right place increase.”
The Pelicans improved to 9-6, surpassing .500 in three games for the first time since November 19, 2018. This spans his 303 matches. 500 at least three games at some point.
