The New Orleans Pelicans’ recent success over the Philadelphia 76ers came to an end Saturday night.
The Pelicans, despite a valiant effort to rally out of a 15-point hole, fell 124-114 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, selected as a starter for the All-Star game, and Joel Embiid both buried 3-pointers in the final 1:18 to seal the win.
The Pelicans (13-38) had won four straight games against the 76ers (27-21). Embiid didn’t play in any of those games. Embiid played Saturday and helped the 76ers get their first win over the Pels since Jan. 2, 2023.
Saddiq Bey led the Pels with 34 points, six rebounds and three assists. Bey scored nine straight points during one stretch in the third quarter to help the Pelicans climb back in it after trailing 67-54 at halftime.
“He’s just a pro on both sides of the ball,” Pelicans’ interim coach James Borrego said before the game about Bey. “He’s been a real settler for us. When we’ve gone dry offensively, he’s someone we can throw the ball to and I know something good is going to happen.”
Trey Murphy, who had struggled shooting in the previous two games, scored 19 points and had eight rebounds.
Jose Alvarado drained a 3-pointer with 6:30 left in the game to give the Pels their first lead since the second quarter, but Philly’s duo of Embiid and Maxey made the big shots late.
The Pelicans were playing the second game of a back-to-back after beating the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night at the Smoothie King Center. The Pels had won three of their four games since interim coach James Borrego started using the lineup of Zion Williamson, Murphy, Herb Jones, Bey and Derik Queen.
The Pelicans looked like they were going to keep that trend going. They led 33-31 at the end of the first quarter, but had a rough second quarter. They got outscored 36-21 in the quarter and trailed 67-54 at the break. Embiid, the league’s Most Valuable Player in the 2022-23 season did much of the damage. He has 23 points and eight rebounds in the first half and finished with 40 points and 11 rebounds.
Maxey finished with 18 points.
Williamson didn’t score his first basket until the 1:11 mark of the third quarter. He took just six shots and finished with 11 points and five rebounds.
It was the first of a four-game road trip for the Pelicans. They play the Charlotte Hornets on Monday, the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.