Jalen Green scored 30 points, Cam Whitmore added 27 off the bench and the visiting Houston Rockets didn’t trail in a 128-111 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night.
Fred VanVleet scored 25 points, Alperen Sengun added 10 points and 13 rebounds and Jae’Sean Tate scored 10 off the bench for the Rockets, who won their fourth straight streak that began by defeating the -Pelicans 133-113 in week one. before.
Trey Murphy III had 21, Dejounte Murray and Brandon Boston Jr. had 17 apiece, CJ McCollum scored 13, Javonte Green added 11 and Herbert Jones scored 10 to lead the Pelicans, who lost their eighth straight game.
Jalen Green, who scored 34 points in the previous win against New Orleans, made a 3-pointer to start the third quarter and extend Houston’s lead to 21 points. The Rockets pushed the margin to 24 before Murphy made three 3-pointers and Murray made one to pull the Pelicans to within 83-66 midway through the quarter.
VanVleet answered with a triple, Jalen Green added another later and Houston extended its lead to 102-74 at the end of the third quarter. New Orleans made just one field goal in the final four minutes of the third.
Green scored the Rockets’ first five points of the game and VanVleet added eight as Houston opened up a 19-12 lead. The Pelicans were within five points until Whitmore and Green connected from deep to power a 14-2 run that left the Rockets leading 39-22 at the end of the period.
Green (16 points) and VanVleet (10) combined to lead New Orleans in the first quarter. Houston made 5 of 10 3-pointers in the first half, while the Pelicans missed seven of their shots from beyond the arc.
The Rockets extended their lead to 21 points before McCollum made two 3-pointers and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl made one to help New Orleans go within 50-36. The Pelicans again reached 14 points on Murphy’s 3-pointer, but Houston pushed ahead to 61-43 at the half.
–Field Level Media
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