Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans Match Player Stats On Nov 20, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Nov 20, 2017

NEW ORLEANS -- Anthony Davis scored a game-high 36 points, 14 coming after teammate DeMarcus Cousins was ejected in the third quarter, and point guard Rajon Rondo provided a steadying hand in the fourth quarter to lift the New Orleans Pelicans to a 114-107 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder Monday night at the Smoothie King Center.

The Pelicans (9-8) trailed by as many as 19 points in the first quarter, but they held Oklahoma City's perimeter shooting in check after a torrid start.

Davis hit 18-of-22 free throws, the most attempts in his career.

Rondo came back into the game with nine minutes left and had a layup, two assists and one steal in a brief span as the Pelicans pushed out to a 106-99 lead. Rondo finished with eight assists.

The Thunder (7-9) were led by Russell Westbrook, who recorded his fifth triple-double of the season with 22 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists. Paul George scored a team-high 26 points for Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City led 76-72 with five minutes left in the third quarter when Cousins grabbed a rebound and tried to clear out against Westbrook, swinging his right elbow into Westbrook's head. Cousins was called for a flagrant 2 foul and ejected from the game, finishing with 18 points and nine rebounds.

The Pelicans closed the third quarter on a 20-10 run to take an 87-86 lead.

The Thunder raced to a 25-6 lead six minutes into the game, but as has become a habit in recent games, they surrendered the entire lead by allowing New Orleans to go on a 29-10 run to tie the game at 35 early in the second quarter.

Oklahoma City took a 65-57 halftime lead on the strength of 16 points (on 6-of-10 shooting) from George, 15 points, six rebounds and eight assists from Westbrook and 12 points and seven rebounds from Anthony. It was the most points the Thunder had scored in the first half this season.

NOTES: Thunder coach Billy Donovan said Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and Paul George are getting more comfortable playing together. "That's going to be something that's probably going to take some time," he said. "Last year, Carmelo was trying to carry the Knicks. Same thing with Paul. Russell was trying to carry us. Now that you bring those guys together, they're all in different roles. Carmelo's played a certain way for seven years, so has Paul. And Russell's played a certain way. The thing that I'm most pleased about is their willingness to sacrifice, communicate and to figure out how they all can get into a rhythm playing with one another. ... New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry shook up his starting lineup, going with a three-guard look that included E'Twaun Moore replacing F Dante Cunningham, who has been struggling. ... Pelicans F Anthony Davis, who suffered a bruised right orbital bone, played while dealing with the lingering soreness from getting hurt Friday in Denver.