Trey Murphy III, surging Pelicans take on Rockets

The New Orleans Pelicans have had to juggle their lineup because of injuries to key players.

But they have won five of their last six games as they begin a five-game homestand by hosting the Houston Rockets on Saturday night.

Zion Williamson might return after missing the Pelicans' 123-104 victory at Cleveland on Thursday because of illness. In his absence, third-year forward Trey Murphy III, who missed the first 19 games of the season because of off-season arthroscopic knee surgery, made his first start of the campaign and scored a season-high 28 points against the Cavaliers.

"Over the last three years, I've been saying we've got a lot of guys who can come up with big games," Murphy said. "This was my chance."

Murphy, who had come off the bench for eight games before starting, went 6-for-10 on 3-pointers and 4-for-6 on 2-pointers on Thursday. The Pelicans made 15 of 35 shots from 3-point range.

"He was great," Pelicans coach Willie Green said of Murphy. "That's what Trey brings to this team. He can space the floor. He's confident. He's starting to put the ball on the floor a little bit more -- shot fake, drive, go finish. And he's finding his teammates as well. He's a weapon for us for sure."

New Orleans, which led by 14 at halftime, took control with a 14-0 run to finish the third quarter and wound up making 54.7 percent of its field-goal attempts overall as six players scored in double figures.

The Rockets, meanwhile, ended a three-game losing streak in emphatic fashion, leading by as many as 38 points in a 122-96 victory against the short-handed Dallas Mavericks on Friday night in Houston.

Alperen Sengun had 22 points and 15 rebounds, Jabari Smith Jr. had 21 points and eight rebounds, and Jalen Green scored 17 points.

"They complement each other well and have good versatility," Rockets coach Ime Udoka said of Sengun and Smith. "They've been together for a few years, and you can see some chemistry building there. They play off of each other well."

The Rockets took advantage of the absence of injured Mavericks stars Luka Doncic (quad) and Kyrie Irving (heel).

"We knew they were missing some players, so I started aggressive and finished the game earlier so we could get ready for tomorrow's game," Sengun said.

Houston, which had a season-high 29 fast-break points, outscored Dallas 66-50 in the paint, and the Mavericks shot just 34.7 percent from the field (35 of 101), including 17.5 percent (7 of 40) on 3-pointers.

The Rockets defeated the visiting Pelicans 104-101 in the in-season tournament debut for both teams on Nov. 10.

In that game, Green scored 25 points, Sengun added 24 and Fred VanVleet made consecutive long 3-pointers in the final two minutes as Houston overcame a 79-70 deficit entering the fourth quarter.

Brandon Ingram scored 31 and Williamson added 24 for New Orleans, which played without CJ McCollum, Murphy, Herbert Jones Jr. and Jose Alvarado.

The Southwest Division rivals will meet twice more this season -- Jan. 31 in Houston and Feb. 22 in New Orleans.