NBA

Charlotte Hornets at New Orleans Pelicans

· National Basketball Association
18-56, 7-30 Away
Final
94 - 98

21-54, 14-24 Home

Alvarado has go-ahead 3-point play in the Pelicans' 98-94 win over the Hornets

Charlotte Hornets vs. New Orleans Pelicans: Game Highlights

With New Orleans down 94-93 after Nick Smith Jr.'s 3-pointer, Alvarado scored on the drive and drew a foul on DaQuan Jeffries to set up the three-point play. Jeffries then threw the ball away, and Keion Brooks Jr. iced it with a layup.

Brooks led New Orleans with 17 points. Antonio Reeves added 16, Kelly Olynyk had 13 and Alvarado and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl each had 12.

Miles Bridges led Charlotte with 20 points, and Smith had 19. Jusuf Nurkic had 13 points and 12 rebounds. The Hornets have lost five straight.

Takeaways Hornets: Charlotte played its second game since learning that guard LaMelo Ball would miss the rest of the season because of ankle and wrist injuries. KJ Simpson, a rookie on a two-way contract, started in place of Bell against New Orleans and in a loss at Toronto on Friday.

Pelicans: Scoring leader Zion Williamson (low back contusion) missed his fifth straight game. CJ McCollum (right foot contusion) sat out for the third game in a row.

Key moment Alvarado gave New Orleans the lead with his three-point play.

Key stat Charlotte shot 35.2% from the field.

Up next The Hornets host Utah on Monday night. The Pelicans are at the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 94 - 98
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 94 - 98
4th 3.0 Jose Alvarado defensive rebound 94 - 98
4th 3.0 Tidjane Salaun misses 28-foot three point pullup jump shot 94 - 98
4th 5.1 Yves Missi enters the game for Antonio Reeves 94 - 98

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/cha.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCHA https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/no.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNO
32-91 FG 38-92
35 Field Goal % 41
8-33 3PT 9-31
24 Three Point % 29
22-25 FT 13-17
88 Free Throw % 76
50 Rebounds 57
12 Offensive Rebounds 14
38 Defensive Rebounds 43
20 Assists 24
15 Steals 9
6 Blocks 8
14 Turnovers 17
1 Team Turnovers 0
15 Total Turnovers 17
0 Technical Fouls 0
0 Total Technical Fouls 0
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
19 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 17
16 Fast Break Points 18
48 Points in Paint 54
17 Fouls 17
13 Largest Lead 5
New Orleans Pelicans New Orleans Pelicans Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Jordan Poole, G Day-To-Day Dec 23
Herbert Jones, F Day-To-Day Dec 23
Dejounte Murray, G Out Sep 25
Charlotte Hornets Charlotte Hornets Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Mason Plumlee, C Day-To-Day Dec 23
Ryan Kalkbrenner, C Day-To-Day Dec 23
Grant Williams, F Out Dec 13

Game Information

Smoothie King Center

Location: New Orleans, LA
Attendance: 17,490 · Capacity:

2025-26 Southeast Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Orlando 17 13 .567 - W1
Miami 15 15 .500 2 L3
Atlanta 15 16 .484 2.5 L4
Charlotte 10 20 .333 7 W1
Washington 5 23 .179 11 L2

2025-26 Southwest Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
San Antonio 22 7 .759 - W7
Houston 17 10 .630 4 L2
Memphis 14 16 .467 8.5 W1
Dallas 12 19 .387 11 W1
New Orleans 8 23 .258 15 L1
Full Standings

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