Former LSU star Cam Thomas was playing just his third game with a new team, but he seemed right at home.
Thomas was signed by Milwaukee on Feb. 8 after being released by the Brooklyn Nets, and he scored 27 points to lead the Bucks to a 139-118 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night in the Smoothie King Center.
Ryan Rollins matched Thomas’ 27 points, Kevin Porter Jr. scored 25, Bobby Portis Jr. had 17 points and 11 rebounds, Kyle Kuzma scored 14 and Pete Nance and Ousmane Dieng had 10 each 10 for Milwaukee (24-30).
Zion Williamson scored 32 points, Saddiq Bey had 22, Derik Queen 18 and Jeremiah Fears 16 to lead the Pelicans (15-42), who will face the Philadelphia 76ers at 6:05 p.m. Saturday in the Smoothie King Center.
The Bucks made 15-of-36 3-pointers and the Pelicans made 4-of-25, though New Orleans did have an 84-60 advantage in points in the paint.
The Bucks beat the Pelicans 141-137 in overtime on Feb. 4 in Milwaukee. Trey Murphy scored a career-high 44 points, making a franchise-record 12 3-pointers in 19 attempts, but he was unavailable in the rematch because of a shoulder injury suffered in the final game before the break.
In Murphy’s absence, Bryce McGowens made his 12th start of the season, just hours after New Orleans rewarded him by converting his two-way contract to a standard NBA contract and he scored 10 points.
The Bucks increased their six-point halftime lead to nine points early in the fourth quarter before the Pelicans closed within 94-92 on a 3-pointer by Bey. Milwaukee pushed the lead back to nine on two occasions before holding a 103-96 lead at the end of the period.
Thomas scored the Bucks’ first five points of the fourth quarter, but New Orleans crept within six points. Milwaukee expanded the lead to 122-106 midway through the period and coasted from there.
The Bucks led by eight points midway through the first quarter, but Williamson scored 10 of his 12 points in the quarter during a 20-7 spurt that left the Pelicans with a 38-33 lead at the end of the period.
The score was tied twice and the lead changed hands twice during the first half of the second quarter. Thomas scored seven of his 18 points in the period during a closing 23-16 run that gave Milwaukee a 71-65 halftime lead.