Pelicans catch fire late to burn Grizzlies, 118-109

The challenge was significant.

The New Orleans Pelicans were playing the back end of back-to-back games and had to travel to do so after sweating out a hard-fought, narrow win Friday night at Indiana.

The Memphis Grizzlies are a team in the standings that the Pelicans must beat to harbor hopes of making the Western Conference playoffs.

When it mattered most Saturday night at Smoothie King Center, the Pelicans came up big to blow past Memphis, 118-109.

Memphis led 104-100 with 5:50 to play in the game after a basket by Jonas Valanciunas.

The rest of the way, New Orleans dominated, outscoring the Grizzlies 18-5 to post a huge victory.

The decisive run was a 15-0 run from the 5:50 mark to the 1:26 mark as the Pelicans defended with great energy and knocked down 6-of-7 shots on the offensive end to seal the deal.

The New Orleans starters dominated, with all five at +14 or better for the game. That offset a significant deficit in bench scoring as Memphis reserves outscored Pelicans reserves 50-21.

New Orleans started fast, building a 7-point first quarter lead but Memphis got hot and took a 33-31 lead by the end of the quarter.

Not known as a good 3-point shooting team, Memphis connected on 10-of-23 from 3-point range in the first half.

Memphis led by as many as 12 points in the first half before New Orleans turned up the heat, turning defense into offense to go on an 11-0 run to take a 60-59 lead before Kyle Anderson made a pair of free throws to give the Grizzlies a 61-60 lead at halftime.

Brandon Ingram had 17 points and six rebounds in the half while Zion Williamson and Lonzo Ball each scored 14 points for the Pelicans.

The Memphis reserves outscored the New Orleans reserves by a whopping 29-9 margin in the first half.

Williamson scored 10 points in the third quarter as the teams exchanged leads frequently before Memphis took a 91-90 lead going to the final frame. Ball did not score in the quarter and he would not score again until there was 1:42 to play in the game.

While Ball cooled off, Eric Bledsoe heated up.

Bledsoe had 17 points in the second half after scoring just four in the first half.

Ingram had a season high 12 rebounds to go with 27 points, four blocks and three assists.

Williamson was a force of nature with 29 points with five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Williamson was 10-of-14 from the field and sank 8-of-10 free throws, an area of his game he continues to improve upon.

Rookie Kira Lewis got the minutes usually given to Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who has really struggled shooting the ball of late. Since scoring a career-high 37 points and going 5-of-8 from 3-point range against the Clippers on Jan. 13, Alexander-Walker is just 8-of-46 (17.4%) from 3-point range and 35-of-98 (35.7%) from the field. Lewis was solid with six points and three assists in 19 minutes.

JJ Redick made both of his 3-point attempts as he continues to rebound from a long slump.

Perhaps the best statistic was that four starters combined for no turnovers. New Orleans had just seven turnovers in the game.

The Pelicans are 8-1 when they hit 13 or more 3-pointers. New Orleans is now 7-1 when Ball scores at least 15 points. Those are very good barometers to measure this team by.

The defense continues to improve by simply working harder as a season-high nine blocked shots exhibit.

Memphis is a team New Orleans will have to beat to make the playoffs and the Pelicans have now won four straight games against the Grizzlies dating back to last season.

The Pelicans held superb reigning Rookie-of-the Year Ja Morant to just 16 points and nine assists. Ball did a good job guarding Morant much of the night.

This was a mature win for a team that had to dig deep, trailing the fourth quarter, playing with tired legs on a second straight night of a taxing contest.

With a 3-game win streak for the first time this season and the first of its kind in exactly a year, the Pelicans are trending upward, a far cry from when they were 7-12 prior to this streak and going nowhere.

Next up is a tough matchup with a hot Houston team at home on Tuesday night. The Rockets ripped the Pelicans 126-112 on Jan. 30 in New Orleans in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated.

Houston is 11-11 after losing to San Antonio tonight. The Rockets are another team the Pelicans must catch in their quest to be a playoff team. The Pels do not want to get swept by Houston at home.

Now, Pelicans fans should go nowhere as they watch a young team starting to blend and figure things out as Stan Van Gundy starts to figure things out as well.