Trey Murphy scored 21 points and Jose Alvarado added 18 as the New Orleans Pelicans broke through for their first win, finishing with an 11-0 burst to reel in the visiting Charlotte Hornets 116-112.
Saddiq Bey had 17 points, while Derik Queen amassed 12 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals for the Pelicans, who were without star Zion Williamson due to a left hamstring injury.
Miles Bridges posted 22 points for Charlotte, while Kon Knueppel paired 20 points with 12 rebounds. Tre Mann scored 18 and Collin Sexton 17 for the Hornets, who went scoreless across the last 3:21.
New Orleans’ bench — led by Alvarado, Bey, Queen and Karlo Matkovic — contributed 62 points.
Charlotte led 112-105 on Mann’s floater before faltering down the stretch through missed shots, turnovers and offensive fouls.
Alvarado drained a 3-pointer, produced a steal and an assist for Queen, then hit another trey with 16.1 seconds remaining to put the Pelicans in front 113-112.
Rookie Sion James’ inbound pass was picked off by Queen, which resulted in two Murphy free throws, before Bridges missed a 3-pointer to tie it with nine seconds left.
Bey snared the rebound and his foul shot finished the Hornets off with 5.3 seconds to go.
Charlotte forged ahead 17-8 before New Orleans seized the initiative, primarily through Matkovic and Jordan Poole.
The Pelicans connected on 12 of 20 from the floor, including 6 of 10 from deep, in the opening quarter, and led 33-30 after Bridges’ late 3-pointer halved the Hornets’ deficit.
Murphy had 13 points in the second period to steer New Orleans to a 12-point cushion before Charlotte hit back.
The Hornets closed the half on a 12-2 run to trim the gap to 61-59, before opening the third frame with the first 11 points, the 23-2 overall run putting them ahead 70-61.
The Pelicans missed their first seven shots of the third quarter before chipping into Charlotte’s lead through their effective bench.
A 10-3 New Orleans response scaled the Hornets’ buffer back to 73-71 on Murphy’s pull-up 3 on the back of Matkovic’s rejection of James.
–Field Level Media
