Ingram scores 29 points and healthier Pelicans top the Suns 126-124 to snap a 9-game skid

By  BRETT MARTEL

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Brandon Ingram scored 29 points in his return from a five-game absence, Herb Jones capped off his first game back from a shoulder injury by blocking Devin Booker’s last-second shot, and the New Orleans Pelicans snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 126-124 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night.

CJ McCollum scored 25 points, but missed a free throw with 3 seconds left, allowing the Suns a final shot for the win or tie. When Booker, who had 28 points, received an inbound pass at the 3-point line, he rose for a shot and had the ball swatted away by Jones, who hadn’t played in 18 games.

Jones had one of this four steals with 2:02 left and made a left corner 3 about 13 seconds later to give New Orleans a 121-117 lead. He finished with 12 points.

Trey Murphy scored 19 points, Dejounte Murray scored 17 and rookie center Yves Missi had 12 rebounds for the Pelicans,

Bradley Beal scored 24 points for Phoenix.

Takeaways

Suns: Playing without star forward Kevin Durant (left ankle sprain) and center Jusuf Nurkic (right thigh bruise), Phoenix still nearly won.

Pelicans: With five of the top six player in their rotation on the court for the first time since late October, the Pelicans looked far more competitive than they have.

Key moment

McCollum hit a driving floater high off the glass to put the Pelicans in front with 35 seconds left and then assisted on Murphy alley-oop dunk that made it 125-121 with 15 seconds left.

Key stat

The Pelicans made seven of nine 3-point attempts in the third quarter, when they turned a 65-54 deficit into a 99-93 lead.

Up next

The Suns visit Miami on Saturday. The Pelicans host Oklahoma City on Saturday.

Here's how we previewed the game, including our tip.

Suns to beat Pelicans in New Orleans

Suns v Pelicans in December? Brings back memories...

We take a look and what we consider to be the 6 best NBA picks sites, to summarise what they are predicting and tipping. Saves you a job!

Dimers - predicting a 112-110 win for the Suns in New Orleans, which would squeak the Pelicans into a line win, and the game would fall 0.5 points under the current market total (222.5)
Clutch Points - boldly pushing the Suns for an easy win in this game, picking Suns (-5.50) at odds of 1.91
Pickswise - also picking Suns on the line, but not as boldly as others, only willing to push a -1.5 bet on the Suns
Sportskeeda - tipping Suns on the moneyline (current odds of 1.68), and two player prop bets. Booker: Under 29.5 points, and Murray: Under 20.5 points.
Betting Odds - forecasting a 112-109 win for the Suns and Bradley "Ian" Beal to deliver over 3.5 Assists at odds of 2.30
Sportsline - the only one of our big 6 who are tipping a Pelicans win, 112-114, along with a slight lean towards over 222.5

We love Sportsline, but can't see a New Orleans win tonight, we're going with the majority, and a Suns win...Sportsline got it right, a 2 point margin with for New Orleans

We are tipping a max points bet on the Suns to beat the Pelicans on the moneyline - currently priced at odds of 1.68

Losing tip - makes a huge difference to Phoenix when Kevin Durant is injured, and they still nearly won.

Our Player Prop Tips are further down this page