For a half Thursday night, the New Orleans Pelicans looked like a team determined to get out of their recent funk.

But things fell apart in the third quarter and the Pelicans ended up losing to the Portland Trail Blazers 118-106 at the Moda Center.

It was the sixth straight loss for the Pelicans (25-52).

“Poor decisions and sloppy play, poor third quarter,” said Pelicans’ interim head coach James Borrego. “We just turned it over too much.”

The Pelicans led 65-60 at the break, but committed eight turnovers in the third quarter and got outscored 28-16.

“I think they had 50 points off turnovers and second chance points combined,” Borrego said. “That cost us. The most disappointing thing were the turnovers in the third quarter. Just some costly careless turnovers that led to easy points. We were fueling their offense with silly turnovers.”

Not even big games from rookies Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen were enough to get the Pelicans back on track.

Fears led the Pelicans with 21 points, two rebounds, two steals, and two blocked shots.

Queen filled up the stat sheet as well with 12 points, seven assists, six rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot.

The rookies’ stellar performances came four days after they struggled in a home loss to the Houston Rockets. Borrego was disappointed Sunday with the bench play, but likes the way his two rookies bounced back Thursday.

“That’s probably some of the best basketball I’ve seen them play together,” Borrego said. “I’m really proud of that group for responding. Fears and Queen were a big part of us just staying in that game, building momentum and staying in this game. I thought they were fantastic.”

The only positive minutes for the #Pelicans came from the three rookies: Fears (+12); Micah Peavy (+12) and Queen (+ 2). 

Trey Murphy, who missed the previous three games with an ankle sprain, scored 19 points. He was just 1-of-6 on 3-pointers. Zion Williamson and Saddiq Bey scored 15 points each. Dejounte Murray had nine points, eight rebounds and four assists, but also had five turnovers.

Former Pelicans’ star Jrue Holiday scored 27 points to lead the Blazers (40-38). Holiday made seven 3-pointers, one shy of tying his career high.

The Pelicans play the Sacramento Kings Friday night.