Pelicans’ Jrue Holiday out indefinitely because of stress fracture

New Orleans Pelicans point guard Jrue Holiday is out indefinitely after it was determined he had a stress fracture in his right tibia, the team announced Friday.

The fifth-year veteran out of UCLA and North Hollywood Campbell Hall High is averaging 14.3 points, 7.9 assists and 4.2 rebounds in 33.6 minutes a game this season. Second-year guard Brian Roberts is expected to start at point guard for the Pelicans.

The 6-foot-4 Holiday had a poor shooting effort Wednesday in a 102-96 loss at home to the Washington Wizards, making only three of 11 shots for eight points. He also had three assists, three rebounds and three steals.

Pelicans leading scorer Ryan Anderson (19.8 points a game) is also out indefinitely because of a herniated disk.

Pelicans power forward Jason Smith told Nokia Hogan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune that the team can’t panic.

“As a team we just have to stay upbeat,” Smith said. “You can’t let anything get you down. Obviously Jrue and Ryan going down, that’s a big hit for us offensively. But at the same point we got guys that need to step up. We are going to have to have them step up and play good tonight” against Dallas.

Internet reports contributed to this story.