New Pelicans head coach Jamahl Mosley was forced to alter his rotation on Thursday against Sacramento because Dejounte Murray was away from the team due to the birth of his son and Jordan Poole was out with an ankle injury, writes Les East of NOLA.com.

Herbert Jones took Murray’s place in the starting lineup and was a game-high plus-27 — the next closest player was plus-nine — in 32 minutes during the 12-point victory, New Orleans’ first of the season.

“He’s just a winner,” Mosley said of Jones. “He finds a way to do the things that help you win games because of who he is as a human being and the player he is as a professional.”

Jeremiah Fears also thrived against the winless Kings, recording 22 points, career highs of 13 assists and four blocks, and two steals in 29 minutes. The second-year guard, who had struggled during the team’s 0-4 start, was tasked with more ball-handling and play-making duties with Murray and Poole out.

Mosley praised Fears’ work ethic and eagerness to improve his game after the win, East writes in another story.

“He has a competitive spirit like not many that I have seen,” Mosley said. “It’s how badly he wants to impact winning. It’s just his tenacity, his will and want to win, and that’s what you see in him every single day.”

Here’s more from New Orleans:

• Another noteworthy change to the starting lineup came at center, with Karlo Matkovic replacing veteran DeAndre Jordan, who had been filling in for the injured Yves Missi (knee hyperextension/bone bruise). Mosley stuck with Jones and Matkovic again on Saturday vs. Atlanta and the Pelicans used a familiar script to pick up their second straight win, according to East. New Orleans had 18 steals and scored a franchise-record 40 points off turnovers on Thursday and followed that up with 15 steals and 34 points off turnovers on Saturday. “The effort and the energy and the toughness that we’ve asked (the players) to play with is getting closer to the 48 (minutes) of what it needs to look like,” Mosley said.
• Murray was at the Smoothie King Center, the Pelicans’ arena, for Saturday’s win against the Hawks, but he didn’t play, tweets Rod Walker of NOLA.com. The Pelicans opted to give the veteran guard another day of rest following the birth of his child.
• Current Hawks guard and former Pelican CJ McCollum received a warm welcome from fans in his first game back in New Orleans since he was traded in the summer of 2025, Walker writes for NOLA.com. McCollum spent three-and-a-half years with the Pelicans, serving as both a productive veteran and a mentor to the team’s young players. The 35-year-old also supported the local community through charity work, referring to New Orleans as a “great place” with a “great culture.” “It would have been better if we came away with a win, but it’s great to be here and see so many familiar faces,” McCollum said. “The city was really great to my family and I. We love it here and enjoyed our time here. A lot of people (here) had a lasting impact on our life.”