Trey Murphy III scores 32 as Pelicans push past Bulls

Trey Murphy III scored a game-high 32 points and Zion Williamson added 21 points and nine assists to lift the visiting New Orleans Pelicans to a 119-113 victory against the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.

New Orleans outscored Chicago 33-27 in the fourth quarter while leading by as many as 16 to close out a 2-1 road trip.

Dejounte Murray (15 points) and Jose Alvarado (12) also scored in double figures for New Orleans, with Alvarado getting all of his points in the fourth quarter.

The Bulls used a 10-1 run to pull within four points with 33.4 seconds left before the Pelicans sealed the game at the free throw line.

Zach LaVine paced Chicago with 25 points, snapping a career-best streak of six straight games of 30 or more points.

Nikola Vucevic posted 22 points and a season-high 15 rebounds for the Bulls, while Josh Giddey had seven points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists.

Coby White scored 22 points, while Jalen Smith (13) and Lonzo Ball (11) followed as Chicago dropped for the third time in four games.

The game was tied at 86 after three quarters, with the Bulls holding the biggest lead of either side at nine points.

New Orleans created distance early in the fourth after a 12-2 run that pushed the visitors’ advantage to 10 points with 7:38 left.

Alvarado sparked the Pelicans with four treys in the final period, including two over a 16-second span.

Chicago led 59-53 at halftime after overcoming a sluggish start from LaVine, who was just 1-for-7 from the floor for two points in the first 24 minutes.

Vucevic helped increase the score with 16 points and nine points before the break. He split a pair of free throws after a flagrant foul by CJ McCollum to start the Bulls on a 7-2 run to close the second quarter.

Murphy reached the 30-point mark for the second straight game and third time in the past five games.

New Orleans got a win in the season series after a 123-111 home win in the season opener.

–Field-level media