While the New Orleans Pelicans are playing better defense of late, the offense is another story.
That was the case, once again, Monday afternoon.
The Hornets raced past the Pelicans 102-95 at Charlotte. It was the seventh straight win for Charlotte, the longest win streak for the Hornets since 2016.
The game was moved up to an afternoon game because of icy roads in the area.
New Orleans started well, taking the fight to the Hornets.
The Pelicans took a 30-23 lead after one quarter before expanding the advantage to 64-49 by halftime.
The Pelicans built a 22-point lead.
Then came the second half.
The offense disappeared.
In fact, it was awful.
New Orleans fell apart.
The Pelicans scored just 31 points in the final two quarters.
New Orleans made just 10 of 37 field goal attempts in the second half, including going 4 of 17 from the field in the fourth quarter with two of the made shots came in the final minute with the outcome decided.
Trey Murphy III broke out of a shooting slump, scoring 27 points on 10 of 20 field goal attempts, including a trio of 3-pointers.
Zion Williamson had a double-double but scored just 14 points with 11 rebounds. Williamson was just 5 of 13 from the field.
Derik Queen had 16 points and eight rebounds.
New Orleans shot a dismal 39 percent from the field.
The big differential came on the boards, where Charlotte crushed New Orleans 59-34.
The Pelicans (13-39) head to Milwaukee n Wednesday night.