New Orleans Pelicans @ Houston Rockets
Friday, November 10, 2023 at 8:00 PM ET
Toyota Center, Houston, TX | Game ID: 22300011
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
HOU 26 28 16 34 104NOP 31 17 31 22 101
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Rockets win fifth straight game, beat Pelicans 104-101 in NBA In-Season Tournament debut
HOUSTON -- — Jalen Green scored 25 points, Alperen Sengun added 24 and the Houston Rockets stretched their winning streak to five with a 104-101 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
Fred VanVleet hit consecutive 3-pointers late in the game and scored 10 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter for the Rockets, on their longest winning streak since January 2021.
The Rockets and Pelicans were both playing their first games in the NBA In-Season Tournament, and an eventful fourth quarter turned Toyota Center into a playoff atmosphere.
New Orleans entered the fourth with a 79-70 lead, but Houston clawed back and took a 101-100 lead following back-to-back 3s from VanVleet with a minute left. VanVleet hit two free throws to put Houston up 103-100.
“Being up and down, having ejections, technical fouls, foul trouble, bad shooting, turnovers — this game had it all tonight,” VanVleet said. “We were able to stay resilient and come out with a win.”
Earlier in the quarter, Jonas Valanciunas and Dillon Brooks tangled for a few seconds after a whistle was blown, riling up the crowd. A few plays later, Valanciunas powered through Sengun’s foul to make a driving layup that put New Orleans up 95-88. Valanciunas appeared to shoot finger guns and shout, “Boom!”
About a minute later, Valanciunas fouled out of the game.
Brandon Ingram led New Orleans with 31 points. Zion Williamson had 24 points and eight rebounds, and Valanciunas added 15 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.
The Rockets led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but the Pelicans closed the gap some late in the second quarter. Houston led 54-48 at halftime before New Orleans took over in the third.
“They made plays down the stretch of the game in the last couple of minutes,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. “The guys battled their tails off against a team that’s been going lately. Across the board, we couldn’t ask for anything better, we just came up a little short.”
There were 14 lead changes in the game.
“We weren’t our best offensively or defensively, but it’s good to grind it out,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “It’s a little more gratifying to win that way than a blowout. The guys made some big plays in the fourth quarter.”
New Orleans committed 18 turnovers to Houston’s nine.
“The physicality picked up a little bit, that’s what it was,” Ingram said. “Our execution has to be better in the fourth quarter.”
Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate was ejected late in the second quarter after receiving his second technical for reacting to the officiating.
The Pelicans were without CJ McCollum (right lung small pneumothorax), Jose Alvarado (right ankle sprain) and Herb Jones (right fibula contusion).
The Rockets debuted their specially painted court for the tournament, which featured red stripes across the top and bottom of the court, with a blue stripe and red “H-Town” lettering across the center.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
NOPBI B. Ingram
CZ C. Zeller
DD D. Daniels
DS D. Seabron
JH J. Hawkins
JR J. Robinson-Earl
JV J. Valančiūnas
LN L. Nance Jr.
MR M. Ryan
VA Valanciunas
ZW Z. Williamson
HOUAH A. Holiday
AS A. Sengun
DB D. Brooks
FV F. VanVleet
JG J. Green
JL J. Landale
JS J. Smith Jr.
JT J. Tate
JG Ja. Green
TE T. Eason
NOP/HOU the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur