Trey Murphy III scored 28 points while starting in place of New Orleans star Zion Williamson — out with an illness — and the Pelicans pulled away in the second half to beat the undermanned Cleveland Cavaliers 123-104 on Thursday night. Williamson didn’t travel with the Pelicans, who have been battling a flu bug that has been making its way though the team and affecting several other players in the past few days. “Over the last three years I've been saying, we've got a lot of guys who can come up with big games," said Murphy, who missed the first 19 games this season after undergoing left knee surgery in September.
JuJu Watkins was slowed but not stopped by illness or Cal State-Fullerton. “We put a lot on her shoulders,” Gottlieb said. Watkins made all six of her free throws while falling short of scoring at least 30 points for just the fourth time in nine games this season.
Bennedict Mathurin scored 30 points and the Indiana Pacers handed the Detroit Pistons their 20th straight loss, winning 131-123 on Monday night. Tyrese Haliburton had 14 points and 16 assists for Indiana in its first game since Saturday’s 123-109 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA In-Season Tournament final. “This is one of the most difficult games you can have, coming off the emotions of last week, the game on Saturday, the travel and everything else,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said.
Emanuel Sharp scored a career-high 25 points, LJ Cryer added 21, and No. 3 Houston defeated Jackson State 89-55 on Saturday. Cryer, who has scored in double-figures in nine straight games, scored 16 points in the first half as Houston led 37-29 at halftime. Sharp scored 16 points in the second half.