The pride of ‘winning’ New Orleans shows that James Borrego is looking at recent losses

When is it The New Orleans Pelicans have changed their coach After a dismal start to the season, one glaring problem remained behind Willie Green. A tenure defined by a catastrophic collapse in the third quarter required a simple, but brutal, fix until temporary James Borrego. Fortunately, it wasn’t about complicated schemes, but a a way of thinking that Jeremiah fears and Derrick Queen brings it every day.

Double-digit leads disappeared, games slipped away, and momentum rarely returned regardless of who was healthy under Green. However, Borrego and the scoreboard suggest those days are over.

“I think we’ve won more than once recently,” Borrego began. “If you look at our record recently, we’ve been winning in the third quarter, which is a plus.”

It’s hard to find reasons for optimism in an otherwise tough season, especially without control of the 2026 NBA draft picks. Still, Fears and Queen are showing Borrego, the front office and the fans that there’s still faith in better days in the locker room.

“Now we’re coming out with aggression,” Borrego explained. “That was a problem for us, and now we’ve turned it around so we have to continue to stay focused in the third quarter.”

Despite the team’s poor performance, Borrego stressed the need to keep the focus on controllable factors. New Orleans hasn’t suddenly transformed into a contender (a 3-20 start doesn’t disappear overnight), but the Pelicans have made a recognizable point of progress.

“We just have to keep fighting,” Borrego stressed. “To me, we handle the boards a lot better. Our transition defense has to continue to improve. We have to stay aggressive defensively. We turned (the Minnesota Timberwolves) over 20 times to our 12, so we’re trying to win the math game in certain areas.”

That change in tone and competitiveness was at the center of Borrego’s short tenure.

Borrego took over during one of the franchise’s most turbulent season openings, with injuries, Zion Williamson trade speculationand inconsistent play, all weighing on a young, injury-depleted roster in search of direction. Still, even amid the early spiral, Borrego tried to maintain a steady message. Fortunately, it’s starting to pay off.

For a team desperate to re-establish structure, incremental gains matter. Winning in third quarters may seem like a modest achievement, but for the Pelicans, it represents the first visible sign that the season hasn’t completely slipped beyond repair. Under Borrego, the approach has shifted toward controlled urgency, force defense, valuing possessions and trying to tilt the numbers in their favor in ways they rarely did during the first month of the season.

The Pelicans still face a steep climb out of the Western Conference basement, and the front office will soon face tough decisions as the trade deadline nears. But for the first time in weeks, New Orleans can point to something concrete. A string of better third quarters won’t fix everything. However, it marks a start that will benefit Jeremiah Fears and Derrick Queen’s All-Rookie Team campaigns.