NEW ORLEANS (AP) — 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 added 18 points and a career-high eight steals as the Pelicans have won three straight games after winning just three of their previous 25 games.
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With 12 seconds left in overtime, Jordan Poole scored 15 points on two free throws and the Pelicans led 131-128. Houston’s Reed Shepard missed two 3-pointers in the final seconds before Bey grabbed a rebound and hit the game-clinching free throw with 2 seconds left in overtime, a seemingly impossible comeback that a cheering crowd had been celebrating since the final minutes of regulation.
Kevin Durant scored 32 points and Alperen Sengun scored 28 for Houston, but Sengun couldn’t get the win after dribbling into the paint in the final seconds of regulation.
Sengon missed two free throws with 43 seconds left in the fourth quarter, and New Orleans completed a comeback in the second half and tied the game at 117 on Bey’s field goal with 31 seconds left.
Rookie Derek Quinn finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks, and his 18-foot jumper sparked an 11-0 run early in the fourth quarter. Bey’s dunk ended the climax, and the Pelicans chased the score to 101-96.
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Durant scored 13 points in the first quarter and hit his first five shots, including three three-pointers, to help the Rockets dominate early.
By comparison, the Pelicans shot 20-for-29 from the paint in the first half.
At halftime, Durant scored 18 points and the Rockets led 67-45.
New Orleans methodically closed the deficit to 13 points in the third quarter and then entered the fourth quarter trailing 99-83.
Next
Rockets: Play against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday.
Pelicans: Host the Indiana Pacers on Saturday.
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AP NBA: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NBA