Pelicans guard Josh Hart was questionable for Tuesday night's matchup against the Houston Rockets.
But Hart ultimately played a game-high 40 minutes, with stars Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson in foul trouble for much of the game, as he helped New Orleans win its fourth-straight, with 130-101 victory against the Rockets.
Hart scored 20 points off the bench and grabbed 17 rebounds, a franchise-record for a guard.
"Josh is either the best or second best perimeter rebounder in the entire league, so the rebounding is not really a surprise for him," Pelicans coach Stan Van Gundy said. "I mean 17 is a surprise for anybody I guess, but he's a great, great rebounder, and then offensively he was able to push the ball some and get some buckets, made some threes.
"So he was great. He played probably way to many minutes – like 40-plus minutes – but that actually may have helped him, I don't know, with the back...not having to go in, come out, go back in. But I wasn't going to take him out because he was doing a great, great job at the defensive also."
Hart said he felt good Tuesday, despite the back issues.
"Once I got on the court, I was warm, I figured out the court," he said. "Luckily I didn't go out too often, so I didn't have the risk of me getting cold and it locking back up. The trainers did an amazing job with all this, getting me ready for the game."
