Zion Williamson scored 34 points and provided 10 assists, while Brandon Ingram added 26 points, helping the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Indiana Pacers 125-118 on Friday night.
Jordan Hawkins contributed 23 points, Brandon Boston Jr. had 14 points, and Jose Alvarado scored 12 for the Pelicans, who were missing four of their key players: Dejounte Murray (hand surgery), CJ McCollum (adductor), Herbert Jones (shoulder), and Trey Murphy III (hamstring).
For Indiana, Ben Sheppard scored 20 points, Bennedict Mathurin had 19, Pascal Siakam added 16, and both Aaron Nesmith and Myles Turner scored 12 each. T.J. McConnell had 10 points, while Tyrese Haliburton recorded 11 points and 11 assists as the Pacers lost for the fourth time in five games.
Alvarado scored four points during a 10-2 run that began the third quarter, pushing the Pelicans ahead from a tie at halftime to a 72-64 lead.
Sheppard’s three-pointer brought the Pacers back to tie the game at 78, but Boston hit two three-pointers, and Hawkins added a three-pointer and a three-point play to give New Orleans a 95-89 lead by the end of the third quarter.
Indiana tied the game at 100 early in the fourth quarter with two free throws by Mathurin. Williamson scored to put the Pelicans back in front, but Siakam’s three-pointer gave the Pacers a 105-104 lead.
Williamson’s three-point play put New Orleans ahead 112-105 with 4:26 remaining. Indiana was just one point behind with two minutes left, but baskets by Williamson and Hawkins were interrupted by a three-pointer from Mathurin.
Yves Missi of New Orleans made a layup to extend the lead to six points with 51.6 seconds remaining, helping the Pelicans break their three-game losing streak.
The Pacers started strong, with four players scoring to quickly take an 11-2 lead less than three minutes into the game. The Pelicans responded with a 10-0 run that gave them a one-point advantage.
The lead changed 11 times in the first quarter, and the score was tied three times, with the last tie being 35-35 at the end of the period.
The Pacers came out strong in the second quarter and took a 53-40 lead. They were ahead by 13 points again before the Pelicans went on an 11-point run.
A basket from Siakam stopped the run, but the Pelicans scored six points in a row after that. Indiana managed to tie the game at 62 by halftime.
