Trey Murphy III scored 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter Tuesday night for the visiting New Orleans Pelicans, who pulled away from the undermanned New York Knicks to earn a 115-92 win.
Brandon Ingram had 24 points and Zion Williamson finished with 21 points for the Pelicans, who snapped a two-game losing streak to move into sole possession of fifth place in the Western Conference, a half-game ahead of the idle Phoenix Suns. Herbert Jones added 15 points.
Donte DiVincenzo scored 23 points for the Knicks, who were missing most of their optimal starting lineup. OG Anunoby (right elbow), Julius Randle (right shoulder) and Mitchell Robinson (ankle surgery) are all out indefinitely while Jalen Brunson (neck) and Isaiah Hartenstein (left Achilles) were scratched shortly before the opening tip.
Josh Hart (15 points, 10 rebounds) posted a double-double while Bojan Bogdanovic scored 20 points off the bench for the Knicks, who lost for the seventh time in 10 games but remained 1 1/2 games ahead of the fifth-place Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference by virtue of the latter's 117-99 loss to the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night.
New York's Precious Achiuwa had 15 points, and Miles McBride added 10 points.
The Pelicans led by as many as 10 points in the second quarter before the Knicks tied the score at 45-45 on a pair of free throws by Achiuwa with 1:07 left. Ingram responded with a 3-pointer to put the Pelicans ahead and McBride hit a jumper as New Orleans led 48-47 at halftime.
The Pelicans began taking control by scoring the first 10 points of the third quarter while the Knicks went 0-for-5. New York got within seven points four times, the last when McBride sank a 3-pointer with 17.8 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to 74-67 at the end of the quarter.
New Orleans scored the first six points of the fourth and the Knicks answered with an 8-3 run to get within single digits for the last time at 83-75 on a pair of free throws by Achiuwa with 9:15 remaining, The Pelicans scored the next seven points and Murphy III sealed the win by collecting 13 points in a 15-4 run that gave the visitors a 109-87 lead with 2:43 left.
