Pelicans lose guard Murray indefinitely with broken hand

WASHINGTON — New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray suffered a fractured left hand in a season-opening victory over Chicago and will be sidelined indefinitely, the NBA club announced on Thursday (Friday Manila time).

Murray, obtained from Atlanta in a trade last July, had 14 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in the Pelicans' 123-111 home triumph over the Bulls before the fourth-quarter injury.

He is expected to miss a significant amount of time after the broken hand was confirmed through an MRI exam.

"Hopefully he's not out too long," Pelicans guard C.J. McCollum said. "His hand didn't feel right. He just continued to play... he battled through."

Murray has averaged 15.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.3 assists over seven career NBA seasons, five with San Antonio and the past two at Atlanta.

New Orleans, which begins a four-game road trip Friday at Portland, also was without forward Zion Williamson due to illness.

The Pelicans also said forward Trey Murphy III, who suffered a right hamstring strain on October 2, has progressed through the first phase of rehabilitation and will begin a return-to-play conditioning phase of his rehab work, with another update expected in two weeks.