SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Eric Gordon scored 21 points, Tyreke Evans nearly had a triple-double and the New Orleans Pelicans gained ground in the playoff race by outlasting the short-handed Sacramento Kings 101-95 on Friday night.
Evans finished with 19 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists against his former team to power the Pelicans to their fourth straight win. New Orleans led by 18 points in the third quarter and withstood a furious rally from DeMarcus Cousins and the Kings for a huge road victory.
The Pelicans (41-34) pulled within a half-game of Oklahoma City (42-34) for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. The Thunder lost at Memphis earlier Friday night.
Sacramento dropped its fourth game in a row despite Cousins' second consecutive triple-double. The All-Star center had 24 points, 20 rebounds and a career-high 13 assists. He also blocked four shots (see full recap).
Streaking Nets beat Raptors
NEW YORK -- Deron Williams scored a season-high 31 points, Thaddeus Young made the tiebreaking basket with 22 seconds left, and the Brooklyn Nets beat the Toronto Raptors 114-109 on Friday night for their season-high sixth straight victory.
Brook Lopez added 30 points and 17 rebounds for the Nets, who have surged into seventh place in the Eastern Conference. Young, acquired from Minnesota for Kevin Garnett in February, tied his season high with 29 points.
Young broke a 109-all tie when he swooped in for the rebound after Williams missed in the lane and Lopez kept it alive.
NBA
DeMar DeRozan finished with 27 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Raptors, who came in tied with Chicago for third place in the East (see full recap).
Balanced Grizzlies top Thunder
MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Jeff Green scored 22 points and Marc Gasol added 19 as the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 100-92 on Friday night.
Green and Gasol were among six Grizzlies finishing in double figures as Memphis won its second straight and moved into a tie with Houston for the second seed in the Western Conference and top spot in the Southwest Division.
Zach Randolph finished with 14 points for Memphis, while Mike Conley and Courtney Lee scored 13 apiece. Nick Calathes contributed 10 for Memphis.
Enes Kanter led the Thunder with 24 points and 17 rebounds. Russell Westbrook scored 18, but only six after the first quarter while connecting on only five of his 20 shots.
Anthony Morrow and Kyle Singler scored 13 each for Oklahoma City, with Singler shooting 5 of 7 overall and 3 of 4 from outside the arc (see full recap).