Christian Wood scored 27 points, Victor Oladipo added 20 and they led a second-quarter scoring burst as the visiting Houston Rockets won their fifth consecutive game by beating the New Orleans Pelicans 126-112 on Saturday night.
Wood and Oladipo each had 16 points during a 48-point second quarter that came a night after the Pelicans withstood a 44-point second quarter to defeat Milwaukee.
John Wall finished with 15 points, Eric Gordon had 14 and Jae’Sean Tate added 13 for the Rockets.
Zion Williamson scored 26, Brandon Ingram and Eric Bledsoe added 15 each, Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 13 and Jaxson Hayes and rookie Kira Lewis Jr. had 10 each to lead the Pelicans.
Steven Adams, who had a total of 38 rebounds in New Orleans’ last two games, finished with just two in 24 minutes after leaving the game for good with a calf injury in the third quarter.
Houston kicked off a four-game road trip while New Orleans fell to 2-1 on a five-game home-stand.
Wood started the third-quarter scoring with a 3-pointer and the Rockets opened a 22-point advantage before the Pelicans made a move.
Williamson scored eight points during a 15-1 run that pulled New Orleans within 86-78.
Tate and David Nwaba each made a 3-pointer as Houston increased the lead to 99-84 at the end of the third quarter.
The Rockets quickly extended the lead to 106-88 early in the fourth quarter and led by as many as 24.
The Pelicans made 14 of 21 field goals and had 11 assists as they took a 35-27 lead at the end of the first quarter.
They pushed the lead to 10 early in the second quarter before Wall’s 3-pointer pulled the Rockets even at 42 midway through the period.
Bledsoe broke the tie as he completed a three-point play before Houston dominated the rest of the quarter.
Oladipo scored 16 points and Wood had eight during a 33-11 run that gave the Rockets a 75-57 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media