Ingram, McCollum lead Pelicans past Houston, 117-107
HOUSTON — Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum each added 26 points and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Houston Rockets 117-107 on Sunday night.
McCollum had 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting in the first half as the Pelicans built a 64-44 halftime lead.
Jonas Valanciunas had 21 points and 11 rebounds, Trey Murphy III had 14 points and Herbert Jones scored 13 for the Pelicans, which shot 49%, including 13 of 31 on 3’s.
New Orleans closed the gap to a 1/2-game behind Utah for the final spot in the play in tournament with 11 games left.
The Pelicans outscored Houston 52-34 in the paint.
Jalen Green scored 40 points, his fourth game scoring at least 40 points this season, Kevin Porter Jr. added 25 and Tari Eason had 10 points for Houston, which saw its season-high three-game winning streak snapped.
NUGGETS 108, NETS 102
NEW YORK — Nikola Jokic had 22 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists in his 28th triple-double of the season, Michael Porter Jr. had 28 points and nine rebounds, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Brooklyn Nets 108-102 on Sunday.
Jamal Murray scored 20 of his 25 points in the first quarter for the Nuggets, who looked nothing like the slumping team that had dropped five of six. Denver shot 62.5% in the first half and led comfortably most of the game while playing for the second straight afternoon.
Mikal Bridges scored 23 points for the Nets.
THUNDER 124, SUNS 120
OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points, and Oklahoma City has won four of five as they try to earn at least a play-in spot.
Luguentz Dort added 20 points for the Thunder, which has missed the playoffs the past two years.
Devin Booker scored 46 points and Chris Paul added 14 points and 13 assists for the Suns.
HEAT 112, PISTONS 100
DETROIT — Tyler Herro scored 10 of his 19 points in the final 3:20 and Miami won for the third time in four games.
Jimmy Butler had 26 points and 10 assists and Bam Adebayo added 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Heat.
James Wiseman led the Pistons with 22 points and 13 rebounds.
SPURS 126, HAWKS 118
SAN ANTONIO — Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell had 29 points each and San Antonio rallied from a 24-point deficit to spoil Dejounte Murray’s homecoming.
Murray had 22 points, eight assists and six rebounds in his first game in San Antonio since being traded to Atlanta in the offseason.
Zach Collins added 19 points for the Spurs, who snapped a twogame skid.