The Rockets finished off a brutal stretch of 10 road games in their first 13 contests of the 2022-23 NBA season with Saturday’s 119-106 loss at New Orleans (box score). The Pelicans improved to 7-6 with the win, while Houston fell to a league-worst 2-11 on the year.
Jalen Green led the Rockets with 33 points and 6 assists on 11-of-20 shooting (55.0%) and 5-of-10 from 3-point range (50.0%), and it helped Houston turn an 18-point deficit in the third quarter into an 8-point advantage early in the fourth. But after that 26-point swing, the Pelicans had a 19-point turnaround of their own to finish the game.
Zion Williamson led the Pelicans with 26 points and 6 assists on 8-of-9 shooting (88.9%) and 10-of-12 on free throws (83.3%). Jose Alvarado made major contributions off the bench with 12 points (83.3% FG), 5 assists, and 3 steals in 20 minutes, and his pesky defense contributed to 7 turnovers by Kevin Porter Jr. for the Rockets. As a team, Houston had 26 turnovers compared to only 12 for the Pelicans, and that discrepancy played a large role in the outcome.
Rookie forward Jabari Smith recorded 9 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for the Rockets, while Porter scored 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting (56.3%) to help offset some of the turnover damage. It was a bad night for Houston’s starting center, Alperen Sengun, who managed only 6 points while fouling out in 19 minutes.
Scroll on for highlights, analysis, and postgame interviews from New Orleans. Houston now begins a stretch of five home games in its next six starting with Monday’s matchup versus the Los Angeles Clippers at Toyota Center, with tipoff set for 7:00 p.m. Central.