Derik Queen finished tonight’s Pelicans win with 12 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals. Almost all of his production came in the 4th quarter.
Showed all the stuff the Pels fell in love with: IQ, passing, touch around the basket. Give this man minutes! pic.twitter.com/qtJfaUmI0d
— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) November 5, 2025
Rookie Derik Queen turned in a strong fourth-quarter effort, sparking the New Orleans Pelicans to their first victory of the season on Tuesday by beating the Charlotte Hornets.
Queen produced 12 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals in the 116-112 win at the Smoothie King Center. He went 5-of-7 from the field in 18 minutes of work off the bench as the Pelicans improved to 1-6 this season.
The 13th pick scored all 12 of his points in the fourth quarter after remaining on the floor for the entire period. He is one of three players to record at least 12 points and seven rebounds in any quarter of a game this season, joining LaMelo Ball and Nikola Vučević.
“D.Q. was amazing tonight,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “We needed every ounce of what he gave us. Even when he made that mistake, his teammates all corralled around him and they just told him, ‘Hey, next play. We made a mistake, next play.’ But he had done so much for us, even leading to that point in the minutes that he played: Rebounding, his ability to pass the ball and he can score. Huge, huge minutes from D.Q.”
Queen is averaging eight points and 5.3 rebounds on 48.8% shooting from the field in seven appearances. He has scored in double figures three times, including a 15-point, six-rebound performance on Oct. 24 in an overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
The 20-year-old showcased why the Pelicans traded up to select him, from his ability to work in the post to pushing the break to dropping in pinpoint passes to his teammates. He also had the game-sealing steal with 13.9 seconds left in regulation.
Queen has had an inconsistent role to begin the season, though the former Maryland standout likely earned himself additional minutes moving forward. He has impressed the staff and his teammates in the early going and appears to be fitting in well.
“He is a good kid,” Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado said. “He is a great person, a great human being outside of basketball. I’m happy for him. He is going to be a great basketball player, but he is becoming a great man at the end of the day.”