Pelicans start fast in Summer League win over Hornets

The New Orleans Pelicans’ slim hopes of reaching the four-team playoff bracket for the NBA Summer League required not only a win over the Charlotte Hornets Thursday, but by a large enough margin to position themselves to win the tiebreaker for average scoring margin.

For the first quarter, that looked like a possibility, but the Pelicans couldn’t continue their fast start and instead held on late for an 89-83 victory over the Hornets at Cox Pavilion.

New Orleans (3-1), which has an average scoring margin of plus-2.0 in the Summer League, is most likely headed to a consolation game either Saturday or Sunday, with time and opponent to be announced.

The Pelicans scored the game’s first 18 points, holding Charlotte scoreless for more than eight minutes to start the game. New Orleans led 25-5 after the first quarter.

E.J. Liddell scored five of the first nine Pelicans points, but contributions came from a number of sources throughout the rest of the quarter.

Charlotte got back in the game over the next 10 minutes, pulling within 39-34 at halftime, and the Hornets got within a point at 46-45 with 7:31 left in the third quarter, but could never take the lead.

New Orleans scored the final 10 points of the third quarter to take a 69-55 lead, but Charlotte had one more run.

James Bouknight’s three-pointer pulled the Hornets within 86-81 with 32.8 seconds left, and a foul by Dyson Daniels on the play could have trimmed the margin further, but Bouknight missed the free throw.

New Orleans preserved the lead by hitting three of four from the line in the final 13 seconds.

Dereon Seabron led New Orleans with 20 points on 9 of 13 shooting. Last season’s first-round pick, Dyson Daniels, had 16, while Liddell added 11 and Garrison Brooks 10.