In the New Orleans Pelicans’ defeat to the Boston Celtics, their late-fourth-quarter performance let them down once more.

The Boston Celtics defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 118–112 at TD Arena as the latter’s late-quarter performance falters once more.

The Pelicans suffered their second consecutive road defeat, despite 28 points from Brandon Ingram and 26 from Zion Williamson.

Coach Willie Green said in his postgame news conference, “We know that in the closing five minutes of the game, we have to execute better and get quality looks.”

Despite blowing an early 17-point lead to lose by 6 points, New Orleans stormed off to a 25-8 run that put them ahead 36-25 in the first quarter.

Green also mentioned, “We played around three and a half quarters of the game with good execution. We also recognize our blind spots. We are aware that in the final five minutes of a game, we must perform better and obtain good looks. Down the line, there were a couple turnovers, and that’s where we need to improve.”

Against Derrick White’s game-winning three-pointers and Jayson Tatum’s cutting maneuvers, New Orleans was unable to produce any heroics in the fourth quarter.

With 6:14 left, White scored a bomb from downtown Boston to tie the score at 94 apiece. The Celtics had led by 12 points at that time in the final 3:50 of play.

Tatum snatched the ball from Zion Williamson as he tried to get into the paint, and the Pelicans were unable to capitalize. With 1:42 remaining in the game, the Celtics’ star player then made a fastbreak dunk to give his team a 111-103 advantage.

Boston would easily defeat New Orleans 118–112, forcing them to question if they have what it takes to compete with the best teams in the NBA.

We’ve been experiencing mental breakdowns for the past five minutes, so I’m sure some of it is mental. However, we’re still working on it. We realize we need to improve in that area, so we will keep working on it, said Green.

Tatum of Boston finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds; Brown had 22 points and 11 rebounds.

A fiery Houston Rockets (21-24) squad that defeated LeBron James and the Lakers 135-119 on Monday night will take on the New Orleans Pelicans (26-21). The Pelicans vs. Rockets game is scheduled to begin at the Toyota Center on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. CT.