Julius Randle, Jrue Holiday and E'Twaun Moore each hit or eclipsed the 20-point mark as the visiting New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Phoenix Suns 130-116 on Friday night.
Randle finished with 22 points, Holiday had 21, Moore came off the bench to add 20 and Cheick Diallo had 15 points and 12 rebounds as the Pelicans continued to restrict the minutes for All-Star forward Anthony Davis in the wake of his recent trade demand.
Davis finished with 17 points in 21 minutes, but went to the bench for good in the third quarter for the third consecutive game.
New Orleans made 57.5 percent (50 of 87) of its shots and 59.3 percent (16 of 27) of its 3-pointers.
Devin Booker scored 26, Kelly Oubre Jr. added 19, Deandre Ayton had 16, Troy Daniels had 15 and Richaun Holmes 10 for the Suns, who missed an opportunity to win consecutive games for the first time since a four-game winning streak in mid-December.
They ended a franchise-record 17-game losing streak in their last game, a 124-121 victory at Miami on Monday.
Phoenix led the entire first half, but by just one point at halftime, and New Orleans turned the game in the third quarter.
Davis' basket started the second-half scoring and gave the Pelicans their first lead of the game.
Randle scored seven points during a 12-2 run that gave New Orleans a 77-66 lead.
Phoenix got within five points on Tyler Johnson's 3-pointer, but Holiday scored his team's last seven points of the period as the Pelicans rebuilt the lead to 94-84 at the end of the third quarter.
The Suns pulled within 101-94 on Daniels' 3-pointer, but Moore answered with a 3-pointer. Moments later, Darius Miller added a 3-pointer for a 111-98 lead.
New Orleans continued to lead by double figures the rest of the way.
The Suns led by as many as 11 points during the first quarter before settling for a 32-27 lead at the end of the period.
They rebuilt the lead to 10 points during the second quarter before the Pelicans closed within 57-56 at halftime as Davis finished the half with 15 points.
--Field Level Media
New Orleans | Phoenix | |
Julius Randle 22 | Scoring | Devin Booker 26 |
Elfrid Payton 10 | Assists | Devin Booker 7 |
Cheick Diallo 11 | Rebounds | Deandre Ayton 8 |
E'Twaun Moore 6 | Free Throws Made | Devin Booker 13 |
Elfrid Payton 3 | Steals | Kelly Oubre Jr. 4 |
Anthony Davis 3 | Blocks | Richaun Holmes 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
New Orleans | 130 | 57.5 | 16-27 | 14-20 | 34 | 50 | 4 | 13 | 25 |
Phoenix | 116 | 42.6 | 12-34 | 24-28 | 25 | 39 | 2 | 17 | 19 |