The Pelicans’ playoff hopes took possibly their final blow on Monday as the Grizzlies upended a comeback attempt by New Orleans for a 115-110 win.
The night was a tale of two halves for the Pelicans and, particularly, a tale of a huge third quarter. After heading into the locker room down double-digits after not leading once in the first half, New Orleans surged out of the locker room to eventually take an 80-74 lead with a 21-3 run.
From there, the two sides played back-and-forth basketball for the remainder of the game. New Orleans spent the rest of the third quarter and the early stages of the fourth quarter either tied or leading. But once the Grizzlies took back the lead on a Jonas Valanciunas hook shot with 9:28 left, Memphis never looked back.
Big baskets from Lonzo Ball, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jaxson Hayes in the final minutes came the game close but the Pelicans lacked the offensive firepower and ability to get stops down the stretch to pull off back-to-back wins in consecutive nights.
Alexander-Walker led the Pelicans with 18 points as one of seven players in double figures. Willy Hernangomez had 15 and James Johnson and Hayes each had 13.
