Oct 9, 2022; San Antonio, Texas, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Trey Murphy III (25) shoots over San Antonio Spurs forward Keita Bates-Diop (31) in the first half at the AT&T Center. Daniel Dunn-USA TODAY Sports

Trey Murphy III lives up to his name and shoots down Mavericks

By Sean Keane | Last updated 10/25/22

Kenneth "Trey" Murphy III has a name that's all about threes, and a game that's all about threes as well. He continued his red-hot shooting Tuesday night for the New Orleans Pelicans, making all eight of his shots from the floor, including 4-4 from behind the arc. Murphy was also a perfect 2-2 from the line, which gave him 22 points as the Pelicans beat the Dallas Mavericks, 113-111.

Murphy's last three put the Pelicans up 104-100, and he followed with an offensive rebound and putback to cap a 15-3 New Orleans run and a lead they'd never relinquish.

Trey Murphy III hits the 3 and the Pelicans are on a 15-3 Q4 run!

DAL-NOP is going down to the wire right now on TNT! #KiaTipOff22 pic.twitter.com/pAKPheiLq9
— NBA (@NBA) October 26, 2022

Starters Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and Herb Jones were all out with injuries for New Orleans, but that didn't faze Murphy, elevated to the starting lineup for the first time this year. Murphy is now shooting 13-19 from three-point range this year, a scorching 68%. With Ingram missing an average of 16 games per year, and Williamson notoriously injury-prone, the Pelicans' hopes of contentions are going to rely on their young role players like Murphy - and Jose Alvarado, who had 13 points and two steals - stepping up when the All-Stars are out.

Lacking both All-Stars, the Pelicans compensated with eight different players scoring in double figures, and just barely held off Luka Doncic and his 37 points. Doncic's game-winning three-point attempt fell short in a game where he collected eleven rebounds and seven assists, including one delivered while laying flat on his back.