The New Orleans Pelicans surged midway through the fourth quarter to come from behind and beat the Dallas Mavericks 119-113 to win their fifth straight game. Dallas led 87-79 entering the fourth, but New Orleans went on to outscore them 40-26 in the final frame.
This wasn’t a pretty win for the Pelicans, as the Mavericks had complete control on both sides of the ball until midway through the fourth quarter. It's also important to mention that Herb Jones went down with an ankle injury early in the third, making the first three quarters of play even worse for the Pelicans. But they found a way to win, and a huge reason for that was the production of two bench stars.
After scoring just four points on 1/6 shooting entering the fourth quarter, Jordan Poole caught fire. Poole sat for only one minute in the final frame, scoring 10 points on 3/6 shooting while also bringing some unexpected energy defensively. JP really fired up the home fans with his three-pointer to tie the game with under seven minutes to go, and from that point on, New Orleans had complete control.
The other guy who had a big fourth-quarter game was Zion Williamson, as the bench tandem of him and Poole continues to give the Pelicans an elite counterpunch. Williamson matched JP with 10 points of his own and was unstoppable, getting to the rim easily and scoring over elite defenders like Daniel Gafford and Anthony Davis. He finished the game with 24 points on an efficient 10/14 shooting as he continues to thrive coming off the bench.
Derik Queen also had another impressive night, finishing with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and six dimes, all while leading the team in plus-minus. To see a rookie big man score as efficiently at a 7/12 clip against rim protection threats like Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, and Cooper Flagg was extremely impressive. And while Davis finished with 35 points, Queen more than held his own defensively.
The unsung heroes
Trey Murphy III had a poor shooting night, but really proved why he is an All-Star-caliber player. Often, the best way to separate a good player from a star is by evaluating a player on their worst shooting night. Murphy III was 4/12 from the field in this game, but ran around like a madman defensively and crashed the boards hard, generating multiple second-chance looks for this team.
Jeremiah Fears also had an off game shooting the ball, and even though he isn't a great defender by any means, the effort he gives defensively makes him a plus on that side of the ball. He had one play where he stripped Davis Jose Alvarado-style, leading to a massive slam on the other end.
Speaking of Alvarado, he continues to be a big-time shot maker for this team, drilling two threes in the third quarter when it looked like Dallas was starting to pull away.
Saddiq Bey once again was huge down the stretch, scoring 7 of his 19 points in the fourth and converting a massive and-one around the 8-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
This five-game win streak is the Pelicans’ first since March of 2023 and could be pushed to six straight with a win in part two of this back-to-back in Cleveland.