Jalen Green scored 22 of his game-high 34 points in the third quarter as the host Houston Rockets built upon a first-quarter run to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 133-113 on Thursday.
The Rockets opened the third period with a 15-3 blitz en route to an 81-55 lead, their largest of the night, with Green scoring 11 of those points. He recorded two dunks during that run; and, minutes later, he turned another dunk on transition into a three-point play. Green added a corner 3-pointer later in the frame and hit 8 of 11 shots in the third.
Dillon Brooks scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half for the Rockets, while Alperen Sengun finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Houston shot 57.5 percent for the game and went 17 of 39 on 3-pointers.
Trey Murphy III paced the Pelicans with 28 points, while Herbert Jones added 20 and CJ McCollum 18. New Orleans has lost 14 of 15 games and is last in the Western Conference.
In the first quarter, Green hit a 3-pointer and Jabari Smith Jr. (15 points, five assists) had two more during a 13-0 run that turned a five-point deficit into a 15-7 lead.
The Rockets were red hot from the perimeter in the first, connecting on 6 of 7 shots from long range out of the gate. Green, Smith and Fred VanVleet (13 points, nine assists) nailed two treys apiece.
Houston shot a robust 75 percent in the first quarter, including 7 of 10 from behind the arc. Brooks added a pair of 3-pointers early in the second period and, when Reed Sheppard followed his miss with a short baseline jumper, the Rockets extended their lead to 52-33 with 7:24 remaining in the half.
The Pelicans responded with a 7-0 spurt out of a timeout but trailed 66-52 at intermission.
–Field Level Media
