Lonzo Ball was pushing the pace at every opportunity. Ball and E’Twaun Moore were draining shots from all over the Smoothie King Center. Despite a commendable effort by undermanned Houston to try to pull off a road win Sunday – while playing without its three leading scorers – New Orleans rode some of Ball’s and Moore’s best basketball of 2019-20 to a come-from-behind win. The Pelicans won a fourth consecutive game, marking their longest winning streak of the season to date.
Ball also nearly registered a career-best scoring game, finishing with 27 points, two shy of his top game as a pro. Moore added 25 points off the bench, highlighted by 5/9 three-point shooting. The Pelicans started sluggishly from three-point range but heated up in the second half, going 18/44 overall.
Although James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Clint Capela were unavailable for Houston, the Rockets built a 93-86 lead through three quarters, partly behind some accurate three-point shooting of their own. New Orleans dominated the fourth period 41-19, however, turning that seven-point deficit into a comfortable winning margin.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Ball drained a left-wing three-pointer with two-plus minutes remaining, giving New Orleans a 120-106 lead. It was Ball’s seventh made three-pointer of the game, setting a new career high.
PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME
Ball had perhaps the best shooting performance of his three-year NBA career, spearheading his team’s 36-point first quarter with a series of perimeter buckets. He nearly posted a triple-double in the process, authoring 10 rebounds and eight assists to go with his 27 points.
“I’m getting my legs back,” Ball said of his improved recent performance. “I was out pretty much nine months (due to injury) before I came to New Orleans. I’m just trying to help my team out, and the defense is picking up as well. The fourth quarter was big. We knew we needed a strong push to get the win.”
BY THE NUMBERS
4: New Orleans players who tallied 25-plus points, a rarity in the NBA. In addition to Ball’s 27 and Moore’s 25, Brandon Ingram deposited 27 and Jrue Holiday added 25.
47-41: New Orleans rebounding advantage, the eighth consecutive game that the Pelicans have outrebounded the opposition. Derrick Favors’ 16 rebounds gave him six straight games with double-digit boards.
#WEEKLYREVIEW
Derrick Favors has made such a major impact on the Pelicans during their recent winning stretch that he was voted Player of the Week by fans for the just-completed Week 10, the first time Brandon Ingram did not earn the honor this season (excluding a week in mid-November in which Ingram was sidelined for multiple games due to injury). Favors grabbed 58 rebounds over the four games, nearly averaging 15 boards per contest.
