Houston Rockets @ New Orleans Pelicans
Thursday, December 18, 2025 at 8:00 PM ET
Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA | Game ID: 22500375
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT1 Final
NOP 24 21 38 36 14 133HOU 33 34 32 20 9 128
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Bey has season-high 29 points to lead Pelicans' 25-point comeback in a 133-128 OT win over Houston
NEW ORLEANS -- — Saddiq Bey scored 21 of his season-high 29 points after halftime, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 25-point, third-quarter deficit to beat the Houston Rockets 133-128 in overtime on Thursday night.
Trey Murphy scored 27 points and Herb Jones had 18 points and a career-high eight steals before fouling out for the Pelicans, who've won three straight after winning just three of their first 25 games.
The 25-point comeback tied a franchise high and was the largest second-half comeback in franchise history, which dates back to the 2002-03 season.
Jordan Poole scored 15 points, capped by two free throws with 12 seconds left in overtime that put the Pelicans up 131-128. Houston's Reed Sheppard missed two shots from 3-point range in the final seconds before Bey got the rebound and hit game-sealing free throws with 2 seconds left in the extra period as a jubilant crowd that had been on its feet since the final minutes of regulation celebrated the unlikely comeback.
Kevin Durant scored 32 points and Alperen Sengun had 28 for Houston, but Sengun was unable to get off a shot for the win after dribbling into the paint in the final seconds of regulation.
Sengun missed two free throws with 43 seconds left in the fourth quarter, allowing New Orleans to complete the second-half comeback and tie it at 117 on Bey's driving finger roll with 31 seconds to play.
Rookie Derik Queen had 16 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks, and his 18-foot jumper sparked an 11-0 run early in the fourth quarter. The surge ended with Bey's dunk and pulled the Pelicans to 101-96.
Durant helped Houston dominate early by scoring 13 points in the first quarter, hitting his first five shots, including three 3s.
The Pelicans, by contrast, missed 20 of 29 shots in the paint during the first half.
Durant had 18 points by halftime, when Houston led 67-45.
New Orleans methodically trimmed its deficit to 13 in the third quarter before entering the fourth quarter trailing 99-83.
Up next Rockets: At the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
NOPBM B. McGowens
DQ D. Queen
HJ H. Jones
JA J. Alvarado
JF J. Fears
JP J. Poole
KM K. Matković
MA Matkovic
SB S. Bey
TM T. Murphy III
YM Y. Missi
ZW Z. Williamson
HOUAH A. Holiday
AS A. Sengun
AT A. Thompson
CC C. Capela
JO J. Okogie
JS J. Smith Jr.
KD K. Durant
RS R. Sheppard
SA S. Adams
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