Rockets (21-4), Pelicans (14-14)
HOUSTON – Alvin Gentry and Mike D’Antoni worked together on the coaching staff for the Phoenix Suns in the previous decade, a team at the forefront of the NBA’s new era of up-tempo pace and prolific three-point gunning. So it was perhaps appropriate that their current teams played Monday in one of the most breakneck, high-scoring games you’ll ever see in the league.
Houston and New Orleans combined to score the most points in a first half of any NBA game since 1991, then went toe-to-toe in the fourth quarter. Ultimately, the Rockets had just enough to overtake the Pelicans, winning their 10th consecutive game.