Rockets (30-31), Pelicans (23-36)
HOUSTON – Attempting to get back in the conversation within the Western Conference playoff race, New Orleans was three minutes away from a victory on Houston’s home floor, but couldn’t close it out in crunch time. The Rockets went on a 13-2 run, continuing to take advantage of what was a total of 23 Pelicans turnovers, en route to turning aside their visitors. New Orleans dropped six games behind eighth-place Houston, a gap that’s essentially seven games because the Rockets wrapped up the head-to-head tiebreaker 3-1. The hosts shot a historically bad 3/34 from three-point range, but still made enough plays with the outcome at stake to prevail.