NEW ORLEANS (AP) — CJ McCollum scored 23 points, Jonas Valanciunas added 22 points and the New Orleans Pelicans won their second straight game without Zion Williamson in the lineup, beating the Chicago Bulls, 124-110, on Wednesday night.
Trey Murphy III hit five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double, and the Pelicans combined to make 17 3-pointers en route to their third straight win overall and fourth in five games.
DeMar DeRozan scored 28 points and Zach LaVine had 25 for the Bulls, who have dropped three straight, starting with their home loss to the Pelicans on Nov. 9.
With Williamson watching from the bench with a bruised right foot, New Orleans opened a lead as large as 26 points when Naji Marshall's 3 made it 108-82 with 8:10 left in the fourth quarter.
The Bulls didn't miss a shot attempt for about seven minutes, hitting nine straight, but couldn't get closer than 14 at 119-105 on DeRozan's driving dunk.
Murphy, who also had three steals, finished 5-of-6 from deep, hitting one shot from 33 feet out. He also completed a transition dunk over Nikola Vucevic, added a putback dunk and had three steals.
Brandon Ingram missed 11 of 15 shots but still had 16 points and nine assists. Jose Alvarado shot 6-of-7 and had 13 points.
The Pelicans hit 10 of 19 3-point shots in the first half, including four makes from deep by Murphy, and led 58-53 at halftime
TIP-INS
Bulls: Shot 11-of-17 on free throws, marking the first time in 14 games Chicago shot below 80% from the free-throw line ... Vucevic finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds ... Alex Caruso had 13 points in a reserve role ... Shot 11-of-32 from 3.
Pelicans: Coach Willie Green said Williamson remains day to day and could return to action before New Orleans' homestand ends on Monday night against Golden State ... New Orleans (9-6) is three games above .500 for the first time since Nov. 19, 2018 ... Shot better from 3-point range (51.5%) than from inside the arc (50% on 26-of-52 shooting).
UP NEXT
Bulls: host Orlando Magic on Friday night.
Pelicans: host Boston Celtics on Friday night.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press.
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