Isaac Okoro scored 24 points, Tre Jones and Jalen Smith had double-doubles and the host Chicago Bulls had eight double-figure scorers in a 134-118 victory against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night.
Jones finished with 20 points and 12 assists, Smith had 14 points and 14 rebounds, Matas Buzelis scored 19, Nikola Vucevic had 17, Kevin Huerter had 13 and Ayo Dosunmo and Patrick Williams added 12 each to enable the Bulls to overcome the absence of their top two scorers — guards Coby White (calf) and Josh Giddey (hamstring).
Zion Williamson scored 31, Jordan Poole recorded 26, Saddiq Bey scored 16 and Trey Murphy III added 15 for the Pelicans, who lost their fifth consecutive game after a five-game winning streak.
Chicago beat New Orleans for the first time this season after losing 143-130 on Nov. 24 in New Orleans and 114-104 on Dec. 14 in Chicago.
Murphy and Jeremiah Fears made consecutive 3-pointers to start the Pelicans’ second-half scoring, and they trimmed a five-point halftime deficit to two early in the third quarter.
Williams drained a 3-pointer and Smith added a three-point play to help Chicago expand the lead to 88-79. Poole made two 3-pointers to get New Orleans within three points, but the Bulls built the lead to 97-90 at the end of the third quarter.
The Pelicans crept within four points twice early in the fourth quarter, but Buzelis scored seven points to help Chicago expand the lead to 122-105 midway through the period.
Five Bulls scored as they raced to a 14-4 lead. Murphy made a 3-pointer, but Chicago took its biggest lead of the first quarter, 24-13.
New Orleans got within 31-30 before the Bulls pushed the lead to 36-32 at the end of the period.
Vucevic started the second-quarter scoring by making a jumper for a six-point lead, but Jordan Hawkins’ floater nudged the Pelicans in front, 42-40. After a tie and three lead changes New Orleans pulled even again at 56.
Okoro’s 3-pointer ignited a 7-0 run by Chicago on its way to a 67-62 halftime lead.
The Bulls hit 47 of 92 field goal attempts (51.1%), while New Orleans had five fewer made field goals, despite six more attempts (42 of 98, 42.9%).
The turnover battle was narrowly won by the Bulls, but they turned ten Pelicans’ miscues into 20 points, while New Orleans scored only 11 points off nine Chicago turnovers.
