Pelicans sneak past Suns in OT
PHOENIX -- Jrue Holiday scored 16 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, and Tim Frazier posted his first career triple-double with 14 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists as the New Orleans Pelicans rallied from 15 points down in the third quarter to beat the Phoenix Suns 120-119 in overtime Sunday.
The Pelicans (8-17) snapped a five-game losing streak and won for the first time since Nov. 29 despite getting only 14 points from Anthony Davis, well below his league-leading average of 31.4 per game. Davis added a team-high 12 rebounds.
Eric Bledsoe had 32 points and eight assists before fouling out in overtime for the Suns, who missed a chance at their second set of back-to-back wins this year. Tyson Chandler had 14 points and 21 rebounds for Phoenix (7-17).
Leandro Barbosa added 18 points and Devin Booker 16 for the Suns, who led 79-64 with 3:21 left in the third quarter but couldn't hold on.
New Orleans' Langston Galloway scored all 12 of his points in the fourth quarter, all coming on 3-pointers. His last one gave the Pelicans a 105-103 lead with 2:53 left. However, the teams traded baskets in the final minutes, with Bledsoe answering two Holiday free throws with a driving laying with 35.3 seconds left.
Both teams had one final shot, but Holiday and Bledsoe each missed 3-pointers to force overtime.
Holiday had seven of the Pelican's 10 points in overtime to put the game away.
The Suns got seven points each from Booker and Chandler and six from P.J. Tucker during an early 22-5 run that turned a six-point deficit into a 25-14 lead off a Chandler 3-point play with 4:06 left. Tucker had three 3-pointers in the quarter, and led the Suns with nine points.
The Pelicans used two-3-pointers by Reggie Williams to cut the margin to 31-25 at the end of the quarter.
Barbosa had all 11 of his first-half points in the second quarter and Bledsoe sank back-to-back 3-pointers during a 15-2 Suns run, capped by a Barbosa layup that gave Phoenix its biggest lead at 58-44.
New Orleans, however, scored the final seven points of the half, five by Buddy Hield, to cut the deficit to 58-51 at intermission.
The Suns stretched their lead to as many as 15 points twice in the third quarter, but the Pelicans closed within 82-76 by the end of the quarter. Holiday capped a 24-9 New Orleans run with a 3-pointer to tie the game at 87 with nine minutes left.
NOTES: The Pelicans got both G Jrue Holiday and G E'Twaun Moore back after each missed three games with a toe injury. ... The Suns played without T.J. Warren, who missed his 11th straight game with a minor head injury. Warren is back practicing and is nearing a return. ... New Orleans PF Anthony Davis came in leading the league in scoring (31.4 points per game) and averaging of 11.4 rebounds. The last player to average more than 30 points and more than 10 rebounds in the same season was Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz in 1989-90. ... Phoenix C Tyson Chandler came in averaging 10.9 rebounds in his 16th NBA season. The only players to average double-digit rebounds that late in their careers are Charles Barkley (10.5 rebounds with the Houston Rockets in 1999-2000) and Moses Malone (10.0 rebounds with the Atlanta Hawks in 1989-90, both in their 16th seasons.