The New Orleans Pelicans had to celebrate a victory over the Chicago Bulls on opening night of the 2024-25 NBA regular season.

A 123-111 win was achieved at the Smoothie King Center despite Zion Williamson not being healthy enough to play due to an illness. Unfortunately, not everything has been positive as the team is struggling with a variety of injuries.

Trey Murphy missed the game after suffering a hamstring injury three weeks ago. Herbert Jones fell badly at the start of the second half and suffered a bruised hip. The worst injury of all, however, is the fracture of Dejounte Murray’s left hand.

He will be sidelined indefinitely. At least a few weeks will be missing because no one wanted their tenure with the Pelicans to start like this.

This is a serious setback, but it won’t sink the team. Here are three reasons why New Orleans can survive without Murray in the lineup.

If there was one position on the team that could overcome a week-long injury, it was the backcourt. Jose Alvarado is one of the better backup point guards in the NBA and will therefore likely see more minutes.

We’ll see CJ McCollum also get better with the ball and likely move to the starting point guard position. Brandon Ingram also has experience as a point forward.

Jordan Hawkins, who had an excellent performance in the opening game, can get more minutes at shooting guard. Rookie Antonio Reeves could also suffer some burn until Murphy is ready to return to the lineup.

Last season, the Pelicans went 49-33 without Murray. Some of the figures are different as their center rotation was changed and Dyson Daniels is on the Atlanta Hawks.

However, the core remains virtually the same.

When Murphy returns, they will rely on the same key ingredients that have formed the team’s foundation over the past few seasons. Murray has the talent to elevate that, but this is a group that has proven capable of getting the job done in the past.

McCollum, Murphy, Herbert Jones, Williamson and Ingram have a long playing history together. They can go back to what they know as long as their new point guard is out of the lineup.

The schedule from New Orleans through November, which would take about five weeks without Murray, poses some challenges. The away game is against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Dallas Mavericks, and there are also three games against the Golden State Warriors.

But there are some places you should be able to use without it. They play the lowly Portland Trail Blazers three times. Also on the schedule are the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors, two Eastern Conference teams eyeing the 2025 NBA lottery.

The Atlanta Hawks are another non-playoff team on board. Games against the Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic present challenges, but they are also on the same level as teams without Murray.

If they can handle business against the lower-tier teams, staying just above .500 by the time he returns is certainly feasible.