Houston Rockets 103 New Orleans Pelicans 100-Recap

Jan 15, 2014; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis (23) drives past Houston Rockets small forward Omri Casspi (18) during the first quarter of a game at the New Orleans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

It seemed like the Houston Rockets were destined for another bad loss to a sub-500 team, but an incredible 17-6 in the last 4 minutes helped steal a 103-100 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

James Harden scored 12 of his 26 points in the 4th quarter, a quarter in which he didn’t miss a single shot(3 for 3 from the field, 6 for 6 from the free throw line). Terrence Jones scored a career high 25 points, while pulling down 8 rebounds, and recording 6 blocks, and Chandler Parsons finished with 17 points and 8 rebounds.

The Rockets started off slow, shooting just 37 percent(7 for 19) in the 1st quarter, as the Pelicans lead 30-19. Dwight Howard picked up his 3rd foul early in the 2nd quarter, but a spark off the bench from Donatas Motiejunas kept the Rockets close. D-Mo scored all 5 bench points and help cut an 18 point lead to 11 at halftime.

Houston Rockets

STARTERS

MIN

FG

3PFG

FT

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

30

4-5

0-0

4-11

4

7

11

2

2

3

3

5

+13

12

41

10-17

0-1

5-10

2

6

8

1

1

6

0

4

+5

25

45

6-15

2-4

3-4

0

8

8

4

3

1

3

1

+10

17

39

6-12

0-3

1-1

0

1

1

4

1

2

2

4

+11

13

41

7-14

2-3

10-11

0

2

2

7

2

1

4

3

+5

26

BENCH

MIN

FG

3PFG

FT

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

18

4-7

0-1

2-4

1

4

5

0

0

1

0

5

-2

10

7

0-1

0-0

0-0

1

1

2

0

0

0

1

1

-10

0

9

0-1

0-1

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

3

-8

0

10

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

1

1

0

0

0

0

2

-9

0

DNP COACH’S DECISION

DNP COACH’S DECISION

DNP RIGHT KNEE INJURY

DNP COACH’S DECISION

TOTALS

FG

3PFG

FT

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

PTS

Fast break points:   16
Points in the paint:   58
Total Team Turnovers (Points off turnovers):   14 (14)

New Orleans Pelicans

STARTERS

MIN

FG

3PFG

FT

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

31

8-13

0-1

8-11

1

6

7

0

2

1

1

4

-3

24

21

1-5

1-2

4-4

1

7

8

2

1

1

3

2

+2

7

28

5-13

0-0

0-0

1

5

6

2

0

1

2

5

-23

10

29

4-11

1-4

1-1

0

1

1

4

1

0

2

3

-15

10

42

11-17

6-9

7-8

0

3

3

6

1

0

2

2

-1

35

BENCH

MIN

FG

3PFG

FT

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

+/-

PTS

30

1-6

0-3

0-0

1

4

5

3

1

1

3

4

+1

2

1

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

+2

0

12

1-1

0-0

0-0

1

3

4

0

0

2

0

5

+15

2

20

2-3

0-0

0-0

4

2

6

0

1

2

0

6

-3

4

20

2-8

0-1

2-5

3

1

4

2

0

0

2

1

+13

6

5

0-0

0-0

0-0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

2

-3

0

DNP COACH’S DECISION

DNP STRESS FRACTURE RIGHT TIBIA

TOTALS

FG

3PFG

FT

OREB

DREB

REB

AST

STL

BLK

TO

PF

PTS

Fast break points:   12
Points in the paint:   30
Total Team Turnovers (Points off turnovers):   16 (16)

The game would be turned around in a hurry, as the Rockets started the 3rd quarter making 6 of their first 9 shots, cutting the Pelicans lead to 64-58. Jones erupted for 12 points to close the game to 7 points at the start of the 4th quarter.

A Jeremy Lin layup, followed by a Harden to Howard alley-oop helped to bring the Rockets to 96-92 with 3 minutes left. Brian Roberts would answer with a 3-point play before Harden scored 4 straight points, followed by a runner from Parsons to cut the Pelicans lead to 99-98 with 1:17 remaining.

It would set up a chance for Harden to show his stardom. The Beard hit two big free throws, and drained a step-back jumper over Austin Rivers to put the Rockets up 102-100 with 20 seconds left. Jason Smith missed an 18-footer on the following possession, but Parsons would split a pair of free throws to give the Pelicans one more chance, which ended up being a missed 3-pointer from Darius Miller.