New Orleans Pelicans interim coach James Borrego chose not to mess with what was working, and it paid off with a historic comeback.
Borrego had brought leading scorer Zion Williamson, who was returning from a six-game absence due to a hamstring strain, off the bench for the first time in his seven-year career and the Pelicans won at Chicago 114-104 on Sunday.
So when the Pelicans went in search of their first three-game winning streak of the season when they faced the Houston Rockets on Thursday night, Borrego again brought Williamson off the bench.
But when Williamson’s teammates came roaring back from a 25-point deficit, Borrego chose not to bring Williamson off the bench in the fourth quarter or overtime and New Orleans finished off the Rockets 133-128 in the Smoothie King Center.
The comeback from 25 points down tied the largest comeback in franchise history and set the mark for the largest second-half comeback.
“That group was rolling,” Borrego said. “These are tough decisions. But that group had momentum, and I tend to stay with momentum.”
The group that primarily enabled the Pelicans to outscore the Rockets 88-61 at halftime was comprised of Saddiq Bey, Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Derik Queen and Jose Alvarado.
Bey, who took Williamson’s spot in the starting lineup while Williamson was sidelined, scored six of his team-high 29 points in overtime after scoring 15 in the third and fourth quarters combined.
“He’s built for big moments,” Borrego said of Bey. “He’s not going to shy away. He hit big shots, timely shots. He was special. I know that group was gassed. They gave all that they had.”
Murphy scored 27 points, Jones had 18 and a career-high eight steals, Queen had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Jordan Poole scored 15. Williamson finished with nine points, five assists and three rebounds in 21-plus minutes.
The Pelicans (6-22) will play host to the Indiana Pacers at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Kevin Durant scored 32 points, Alperin Sengun had 28 points and 11 rebounds, Amen Thompson scored 23, Jabari Smith Jr. had 12 points and 12 rebounds, Reed Sheppard scored 11 and Josh Okogie had 10 to lead the Rockets (16-8).
The Rockets held a 123-121 lead early in overtime, but Murphy made a tip-in, Bey hit a jumper and Jones fed Queen for a dunk, giving the Pelicans a four-point lead. Durant raced to the basket for a dunk, but Bey made a baseline jumper.
Durant made three free throws to trim the lead to one with 20.3 seconds left, but Poole came off the bench to make two free throws for a three-point lead. After a timeout, Sheppard missed a 3-pointer, Sengun rebounded and passed back to Shepperd and he missed another 3-pointer. Bey grabbed the rebound and made two free throws with 2.1 seconds left,
“This team reflects the city of New Orleans,” Borrego said. “They have pride, they’re resilient, they’re tough, they’re physical. They never drop the sword or say woe is me. We just get back to it.”
Sengun made a dunk to start the third-quarter scoring and Smith made a 3-pointer to give the Rockets a 72-47 lead. The Pelicans crept within 14 points on a four-point play by Poole before Houston took a 99-83 lead into the fourth quarter.
Borrego brought Williamson into the game against the Bulls with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter and Williamson was fresh enough to play the rest of the way. The plan was similar for Thursday, but Jones had two steals and two field goals during a 13-2 start to the final period, pulling New Orleans within 101-96.
After Durant answered with a three-point play, the Pelicans got within four points six times, but the Rockets answered five times before Bey made a 3-pointer to trim the lead to one.
Thompson made a jumper, but New Orleans pulled even at 117 on a drive by Bey with 30 seconds remaining. Thompson drove in for a tie-breaking layup with 13 seconds left, but Queen made two free throws with 9.4 left and Sengun missed a layup at the buzzer.
Bey made two 3-pointers and Jones had one to help the Pelicans take a 15-9 lead before they cooled off. Durant made two 3-pointers and Sheppard had one during a 13-0 Rockets run that produced a 22-15 lead.
Houston pushed the lead to as many as 11 points before Jones’ put-back trimmed the lead to 33-24 at the end of the first quarter.
The Rockets scored the first five points of the second quarter and gradually expanded the lead to 23 points before holding a 67-45 halftime lead.
“You don’t want to get down by 25,” Bey said, “but if we play together for 48 minutes, we can play with anybody.”
They held together for 53 minutes Thursday.