HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- Tuesday's game at Toyota Center should've been an easy Rockets win. The New Orleans Pelicans played without four starters and they jumped out to an early double-digit lead only to see the Pelicans storm back and win 121-116.
Without Anthony Davis (finger), Elfrid Payton (ankle), Nikola Mirotic (calf), and E'Twaun Moore (rest), the Pelicans shot 51 percent from the field and outrebounded the Rockets by 10 as they improved to 23-28.
Jahlil Okafor led New Orleans with 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting. He also grabbed 12 rebounds, while Jrue Holiday added 19 points and eight assists.
Ian Clark came off the bench for the Pelicans and chipped in 15 points, and Kenrich Williams had a 16 rebound night.
With the help of eight three-pointers, the Rockets jumped out to a 12-point first quarter lead, but New Orleans scored the last five points of the period to get it down to seven, then in the second quarter, the Rockets advantage ballooned up to 15 though the Pelicans closed the first half with eight straight points. The Rockets pushed the lead back to 10 after halftime, but Okafor rebounded a Darius Miller miss and put in for two, starting a 26-13 New Orleans run with Williams giving the Pelicans their first lead of the night with 2:06 left in the quarter. The Pelicans led the rest of the way.
James Harden's 37 point night led all scorers. It's his 24th straight 30 point game, but he shot just 11-of-32 from the field. As a team, the Rockets shot less than 40 percent for the game, 30 percent in the second half as they fall to 29-21.
The Rockets will begin a 4-game west coast road trip Friday night when they take on the Denver Nuggets Friday night at Pepsi Center.
