Home

Pelicans

133 –

HOU

Away

Rockets

128

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Houston Rockets

December 18, 2025 · 2025-26 season

The Pelicans beat the Rockets 133-128 on 2025-12-18 at home. The Pelicans started Saddiq Bey, Herbert Jones, Trey Murphy III, Jeremiah Fears, and Derik Queen. The Rockets started Kevin Durant, Josh Okogie, Alperen Sengun, Jabari Smith Jr., and Amen Thompson. Kevin Durant (Rockets) scored 19 points (7/13) in his matchups, with Herbert Jones as his primary defender. Zion Williamson (Pelicans) scored 10 points (2/8) in his matchups, with Steven Adams as his primary defender.

Box score

In orange, the game high in points, rebounds and assists.

NOP

New Orleans Pelicans 133

Player	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	FG	3PT	FT	+/-
Trey Murphy III GS	38:29	27	3	2	1	1	0	2	9-13	2-2	7-7	0
Herbert Jones GS	38:13	18	3	3	8	1	1	6	7-14	2-6	2-2	+19
Derik Queen GS	35:21	16	12	3	0	3	3	4	7-16	0-2	2-3	+18
Saddiq Bey GS	34:19	29	9	1	2	0	1	0	11-18	3-5	4-4	+21
Jeremiah Fears GS	20:12	9	3	4	0	0	1	0	4-8	0-1	1-2	+5
Jose Alvarado	30:22	7	3	6	1	0	0	3	2-5	1-3	2-3	+3
Jordan Poole	24:32	15	1	2	3	0	2	2	5-13	2-7	3-3	-7
Zion Williamson	21:26	9	3	5	0	1	2	3	3-9	0-0	3-4	-17
Karlo Matković	11:07	3	2	1	0	1	1	2	1-1	1-1	0-0	-5
Yves Missi	6:24	0	2	0	0	0	1	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	-8
Bryce McGowens	4:35	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	-4
Totals		133	41	27	15	7	12	24	49-97	11-27	24-28

Did not play: Jordan Hawkins (DNP - Coach's Decision), DeAndre Jordan (DNP - Coach's Decision), Kevon Looney (DNP - Coach's Decision), Micah Peavy (DNP - Coach's Decision)

HOU

Houston Rockets 128

Player	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	FG	3PT	FT	+/-
Jabari Smith Jr. GS	44:08	12	12	2	0	0	4	4	5-18	1-6	1-2	-5
Kevin Durant GS	42:41	32	7	2	1	4	6	2	12-15	4-6	4-4	-7
Amen Thompson GS	40:36	23	6	4	1	1	4	2	11-14	0-1	1-1	-9
Alperen Sengun GS	35:42	28	11	8	2	2	2	5	11-26	0-4	6-10	-5
Josh Okogie GS	30:10	10	4	3	0	0	0	1	3-7	1-2	3-3	+2
Steven Adams	27:49	6	10	3	1	1	1	3	2-10	0-0	2-5	+3
Reed Sheppard	26:57	11	4	7	1	0	0	1	4-12	3-10	0-0	+3
Aaron Holiday	10:18	3	1	1	0	0	0	2	1-3	1-3	0-0	-9
Clint Capela	6:40	3	3	0	0	0	1	1	1-2	0-0	1-2	+2
Totals		128	58	30	6	8	18	21	50-107	10-32	18-27

Did not play: JD Davison (DNP - Coach's Decision), Tari Eason (DND - Injury/Illness), Jeff Green (DNP - Coach's Decision), Jae'Sean Tate (DNP - Coach's Decision)

Lineups

NOP

New Orleans Pelicans

Starting lineup

The 5 most-used lineups:

Saddiq Bey · Herbert Jones · Trey Murphy III · Jeremiah Fears · Derik Queen Starter 10.2 min
Saddiq Bey · Herbert Jones · Trey Murphy III · Jose Alvarado · Derik Queen 12.8 min
Jordan Poole · Saddiq Bey · Herbert Jones · Jose Alvarado · Derik Queen 3.8 min
Zion Williamson · Jordan Poole · Herbert Jones · Trey Murphy III · Derik Queen 3.7 min
Zion Williamson · Jordan Poole · Trey Murphy III · Jose Alvarado · Yves Missi 3.5 min

HOU

Houston Rockets

Starting lineup

The 5 most-used lineups:

Kevin Durant · Josh Okogie · Alperen Sengun · Jabari Smith Jr. · Amen Thompson Starter 14.7 min
Kevin Durant · Steven Adams · Alperen Sengun · Jabari Smith Jr. · Amen Thompson 6.0 min
Kevin Durant · Clint Capela · Aaron Holiday · Amen Thompson · Reed Sheppard 4.4 min
Kevin Durant · Steven Adams · Josh Okogie · Jabari Smith Jr. · Reed Sheppard 4.3 min
Steven Adams · Alperen Sengun · Jabari Smith Jr. · Amen Thompson · Reed Sheppard 4.2 min

Who guarded whom

Based on stats.nba.com matchup data. Points and shooting are always the offensive player's.

Pelicans defense

Kevin Durant 19 pts (7/13) in 79 possessions

Guarded by: Herbert Jones (29 %, 2 pts) · Saddiq Bey (26 %, 11 pts) · Trey Murphy III (12 %, 4 pts)
Alperen Sengun 30 pts (11/14) in 66 possessions

Guarded by: Derik Queen (26 %, 6 pts) · Herbert Jones (23 %, 7 pts) · Zion Williamson (12 %, 2 pts)

Defender	Guarded most
Trey Murphy III	Jabari Smith Jr.: 26 poss., 7 pts (3/4) · Amen Thompson: 15 poss., 2 pts (0/1)
Herbert Jones	Kevin Durant: 23 poss., 2 pts (0/1) · Alperen Sengun: 15 poss., 7 pts (3/3)
Derik Queen	Alperen Sengun: 17 poss., 6 pts (3/5) · Josh Okogie: 15 poss., 2 pts (0/0)
Saddiq Bey	Kevin Durant: 20 poss., 11 pts (4/6) · Jabari Smith Jr.: 14 poss., 4 pts (2/3)
Jose Alvarado	Reed Sheppard: 19 poss., 3 pts (1/2) · Josh Okogie: 11 poss., 0 pts (0/0)
Jordan Poole	Aaron Holiday: 10 poss., 0 pts (0/0) · Josh Okogie: 9 poss., 4 pts (2/3)
Zion Williamson	Steven Adams: 14 poss., 3 pts (1/2) · Alperen Sengun: 8 poss., 2 pts (1/1)
Jeremiah Fears	Amen Thompson: 15 poss., 2 pts (1/2) · Reed Sheppard: 9 poss., 2 pts (1/2)
Karlo Matković	Clint Capela: 8 poss., 3 pts (1/1) · Kevin Durant: 4 poss., 0 pts (0/0)
Yves Missi	Steven Adams: 4 poss., 0 pts (0/0) · Kevin Durant: 3 poss., 0 pts (0/0)
Bryce McGowens	Amen Thompson: 6 poss., 0 pts (0/0) · Aaron Holiday: 2 poss., 0 pts (0/0)

Rockets defense

Zion Williamson 10 pts (2/8) in 47 possessions

Guarded by: Steven Adams (39 %, 0 pts) · Alperen Sengun (19 %, 6 pts) · Jabari Smith Jr. (14 %, 0 pts)
Jeremiah Fears 8 pts (4/8) in 40 possessions

Guarded by: Josh Okogie (27 %, 2 pts) · Reed Sheppard (23 %, 0 pts) · Jabari Smith Jr. (14 %, 0 pts)

Defender	Guarded most
Kevin Durant	Herbert Jones: 37 poss., 16 pts (6/7) · Trey Murphy III: 12 poss., 6 pts (2/2)
Jabari Smith Jr.	Trey Murphy III: 32 poss., 3 pts (1/3) · Herbert Jones: 11 poss., 4 pts (2/2)
Amen Thompson	Jose Alvarado: 16 poss., 0 pts (0/2) · Trey Murphy III: 15 poss., 4 pts (2/2)
Alperen Sengun	Derik Queen: 28 poss., 8 pts (4/12) · Saddiq Bey: 14 poss., 2 pts (1/4)
Steven Adams	Zion Williamson: 18 poss., 0 pts (0/1) · Derik Queen: 16 poss., 0 pts (0/2)
Josh Okogie	Jeremiah Fears: 11 poss., 2 pts (1/2) · Jordan Poole: 10 poss., 0 pts (0/0)
Reed Sheppard	Jose Alvarado: 21 poss., 6 pts (2/2) · Jeremiah Fears: 9 poss., 0 pts (0/2)
Aaron Holiday	Jordan Poole: 12 poss., 3 pts (1/2) · Saddiq Bey: 2 poss., 0 pts (0/0)
Clint Capela	Karlo Matković: 5 poss., 2 pts (1/2) · Derik Queen: 2 poss., 0 pts (0/0)