Zion Williamson scores 31, leads Pelicans over Blazers

Zion Williamson scored a season-high 31 points, and the New Orleans Pelicans used a dominant second half to defeat the Portland Trail Blazers 138-117 at home on Tuesday night.

Playing 28 minutes in just his ninth NBA game, Williamson used his 6-foot-6, 285-pound frame, quick feet and explosive vertical to have his way with every defender Portland tried against him. Williamson was either too strong, too fast, or both. He mixed spinning dribbles and sudden baseline drives into his usual arsenal of soaring transition dunks and tenacious putbacks.

JJ Redick scored 20 and Josh Hart had 17 points for New Orleans, which trailed by as many as 16 in the first quarter before taking command en route to a third straight victory.

Portland star Damian Lillard scored 20 points — less than half of his 42-point average over his previous 10 games. But his playing time was limited in the fourth quarter when the Pelicans, who led by as many as 26, had put the game out of reach. CJ McCollum had 18 points for the Trail Blazers.

All-Star wing player and leading scorer for the Pelicans Brandon Ingram missed his second straight game and is day to day. SPURS 114, THUNDER 106 >> LaMarcus Aldridge had 25 points and 14 rebounds, and San Antonio stopped a five-game slide by topping Oklahoma City. Dejounte Murray also scored 25 points for San Antonio, which had dropped eight of 10 overall. Patty Mills added 20 points.

Oklahoma City dropped its second straight after a stretch of nine wins in 10 games. Chris Paul scored 31 points for the Thunder, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 17.

76ERS 110, CLIPPERS 103 >> Ben Simmons had 26 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists, and Philadelphia beat Los Angeles. Joel Embiid also scored 26 points and Tobias Harris added 17 points and 12 boards for Philadelphia, which has the NBA’s best home record at 25-2.

Kawhi Leonard led Los Angeles with 30 points, and reserve Landry Shamet scored 19 against his former team. WARRIORS THIRD IN FORBES LIST OF NBA FRANCHISE VALUES >> Forbes is listing the average value of NBA franchises over $2 billion for the first time, a figure that has grown nearly 600% in the last decade.

The average NBA franchise is now valued at just over $2.1 billion, with Forbes saying the Knicks — worth $4.6 billion by the magazine’s calculations — ranking atop the league list. The Lakers were listed with a worth of $4.4 billion by Forbes, with the Warriors at $4.3 billion.