MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Herbert Jones scored 17 points and Brandon Ingram finished with 16 points including a pair of late buckets as the New Orleans Pelicans held on to defeat Memphis 96-87 on Monday night, sending the Grizzlies to their ninth straight loss.
Zion Williamson finished with 14 points and CJ McCollum added 11 as New Orleans won its second straight. Jones had nine rebounds as New Orleans outrebounded Memphis 49-37.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led the Grizzlies with 22 points, while Vince Williams Jr. and Luke Kennard finished with 12 points apiece. Yuta Watanabe had 11 points, keying a fourth-quarter Memphis push.
A 14-point New Orleans lead at halftime stretched to 25 in the third period. The Pelicans, with basically their full complement of players, seemed to have too much offensive firepower for the makeshift Grizzlies to keep pace.
But spanning the third and fourth quarters, Memphis crafted a 25-7 rally to make the game a bit tighter midway through the fourth as New Orleans' lead had dropped to seven points. Memphis eventually got within 90-85 with three minutes left as the Pelicans were 1 of 12 from the field in the quarter.
Ingram scored a pair buckets with about two minutes left to give New Orleans its sixth win in the last seven games.
Memphis continues to be short-handed due to injuries. GG Jackson, one of the Grizzlies' offensive sparkplugs in recent games, was suspended Monday for violating an unspecified team rule.
On Monday, the Pelicans learned Dyson Daniels suffered a meniscus tear in his left knee that will keep him out of action an extended period - a significant loss to New Orleans' bench production. But the reserves helped turn a close game into a double-digit lead in the first. A 21-8 run to close the latter half of the second gave New Orleans a 61-47 lead at the break.