Murray scored 14 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in the 123-111 win.

Murray, 28, was New Orleans’ most important acquisition of the offseason, when the team made a pair of first-round picks and Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr. and sent EJ Liddell to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for the veteran point guard.

It was a much more modest return than what Atlanta sent to the San Antonio Spurs (four first-rounders and Danilo Gallinari) to acquire Murray in 2022.

The backcourt of Trae Young and Murray was never quite right, though the latter averaged a career-high 22.5 points per game last season and made 201 threes, also a career high. But with Young handling the primary ball-handling duties, Murray looked somewhat out of place as an off-ball guard when they shared the court.

The addition of Murray gave the Pelicans a true point guard to partner with CJ McCollum and completed a strong core group of that pair alongside Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Herbert Jones. While there were some questions about whether there would be enough proverbial basketballs, the Pelicans had undoubtedly assembled a talented core.

Now, however, the Pelicans will have to be without Murray for a significant period of time, costing the team’s four best players a chance to build chemistry. And given Williamson’s own history of losing time, the team is one injury away from serious depletion.