WASHINGTON, DC — C.J. McCollum scored a
season-high 30 points while reserves Larry Nance Jr and
Jose Alvarado made key
contributions to spark New Orleans over Memphis 113–102 in an NBA game Tuesday.
اضافة اعلان
McCollum made 11-of-23 shots from the floor, 7-of-13
from 3-point range, and passed off nine assists as the Pelicans improved to 8–6,
just behind Memphis (9–6) in the Western Conference.
“I just tried to
be aggressive, take advantage of the opportunities,” said McCollum, who had 22
points in the second half. “I’ve been in the gym a lot trying to work on my
fundamentals and my shot discipline and tonight it carried over.”
“I’ve been getting a lot of great looks all season,
haven’t been knocking them down. I just wanted to focus on the work and it paid
off.”
Ja Morant scored a game-high 36 points to lead
Memphis, but it was when he went to the bench late in the third quarter, with
the
Grizzlies leading 86–85, that the Pelicans seized command.
New Orleans went on a 15–5 run with Morant resting
and stretched the spurt to 19–5 for a 104–91 edge with 6:12 remaining, Alvarado
scoring five in the run and Nance and McCollum each adding four.
Nance finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, and
two blocked shots while Alvarado had 12 points and six assists.
The Pelicans, among the NBA’s worst 3-point shooting
clubs, went 18-of-38 from beyond the arc, helped by direction from coach Willie
Green and confident drives to the hoop to draw in defenders and set up passes
to the outside when no shot develops.
“Coach put an emphasis on the early easy pass,
making sure guys had a shot ready,” McCollum said. “Guys have been in the gym a
lot working on catch and shoot threes and tonight we shot them.”
“All the times we force our way into the paint we’ve
got to trust our judgment. It’s a credit to the guys making the right pass and
making the right play.”
Memphis forward Jaren Jackson Jr. made his season
debut after undergoing right foot surgery following the 2022 playoffs,
contributing seven points, six rebounds, and five blocked shots.
Pelicans star forward
Zion Williamson missed the
game with a bruised right foot.
The Grizzlies were without guard Desmond Bane, out
up to three weeks with a sprained right big toe.
Mavericks edge Clippers
At Dallas, Luka Doncic had game-highs of 35 points
and 11 rebounds to spark the host Mavericks over the Los Angeles Clippers 103–101.
Reggie Bullock’s back-to-back 3-pointers put the
Mavericks ahead 99–93 with 91 seconds to play.
Nicolas Batum answered with a 3-pointer for the
Clippers and Paul George added a layup to lift the visitors within 99–98 with
51 seconds remaining.
Doncic sank a three-pointer with 27 seconds
remaining to stretch the Dallas lead to 102–98. George answered on a layup with
18 seconds to play and Bullock made only 1-of-2 free throws with 7.3 seconds to
play to make it 103–100.
The Mavs fouled Batum and he made a free throw then
missed another, but Dallas grabbed the rebound and ran out the final seconds.
George led the Clippers with 23 points and Batum had
22 while Dorian Finney-Smith added 21 for Dallas.
New York’s
Jalen Brunson scored 25 points and passed
off a game-high eight assists to lead the Knicks over host Utah 118–111.
Terence Davis came
off the bench to score 31 points and grab nine rebounds, leading the host
Sacramento Kings over Brooklyn 153–121. Kevin Durant scored 27 for the Nets in
a losing cause.
The Kings scored their most in any game since 1993
and the most by any team in an NBA game this season.
Jerami Grant scored 29
points to spark the Portland Trail Blazers over visiting San Antonio 117–110.
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