NBA: Rockets beat Pelicans

Houston, Dec 29 (IANS) A last quarter surge by the Houston Rockets’ helped them beat New Orleans Pelicans 107-98 in NBA action at the Toyota Centre here.

New Orleans warmed up quickly in the first quarter, grabbing the first five consecutive points Saturday night. But they failed to maintain the momentum and were overtaken by Houston, who had a 13-2 run and led 31-22 in the first period, reports Xinhua.

The Pelicans came back strongly in the second quarter. They settled in their defensive rotations to contest the Rockets shooters.

This had a significant impact on the Rockets, who made only 33.3 percent of their shots in the quarter and allowed the Pelicans to go into the halftime 52-all.

The Rockets still failed to dominate over the Pelicans in the third quarter. The two teams had a tug of war and led alternatively. Houston narrowly led by one point 74-73 at the end of the third quarter.

Rockets’ Jeremy Lin, who had missed all shots in the first three quarters, woke up in the fourth. He scored all 10 of his points, and James Harden made 11 of his 21 points in the quarter.

The Pelicans had chances to top the Rockets, but their opponents proved more effective in offence.

After Harden scored a crucial three-pointer with 3minutes 14 second left, Houston didn’t give any opportunity to New Orleans.

Dwight Howard grabbed 24 points and 18 rebounds. Chandler Parsons chipped in 19 points and 7 boards. Terrence Jones had 17 points for the Rockets.

Ryan Anderson led the Pelicans with 22 points and 12 rebounds, and Anthony Davis had 18 and 16.