Pelicans 121, Hawks 99: Pelicans Take Early Lead, Defeat Hawks

📰Game Recap

The New Orleans Pelicans opened with a dominant first quarter, establishing a significant lead early to defeat the Atlanta Hawks 121-99. New Orleans surged ahead with a 35-18 advantage in the opening frame, powered by efficient scoring from Saddiq Bey, who finished the game with 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting, and Jeremiah Fears, who added 20 points and seven assists.

The Pelicans maintained their control throughout the contest, despite Atlanta's efforts to narrow the gap. New Orleans continued to outscore the Hawks in the second quarter, 30-28, and further extended their lead in the third with a 29-26 edge. Zion Williamson contributed 15 points, six rebounds, and four assists on 5-of-8 shooting, while Trey Murphy III also added 15 points, five rebounds, and five assists for the Pelicans' balanced offense. CJ McCollum led the Hawks with 14 points, including two 3-pointers.

Atlanta struggled to mount a consistent comeback after the initial New Orleans barrage, as the Pelicans closed out the game with a 29-25 advantage in the final period. The comprehensive win for New Orleans defied pregame analytics, as SportsFBI's model had favored the Hawks at 81%.

#NewOrleansPelicans #AtlantaHawks #NBAGameRecap #SaddiqBey #JeremiahFears

How the Prediction Fared

⚡ Model Missed

SportsFBI's model, locked before tip-off, favored the Atlanta Hawks (81% confidence). It gave a 24% chance of a 20+ point margin; the game was decided by 22 points.

💵 Betting Result FanDuel closing line

Spread · ATL -4.5 NOP covered Won by 22

Total · 239.5 Under 220 combined

Moneyline ATL -198 · NOP +166 ATL favored

Line movementOpening line → close

Spread (NOP) +3.5+4.5 +1

Total 238.5239.5 +1

Moneyline (NOP) +138+166 +28

Standouts

Top Scorer · NOP

Saddiq Bey

25 PTS, 6 REB, 1 AST, 1 3PM · 9-13 FG

Scoring · NOP

Jeremiah Fears

20 PTS, 5 REB, 7 AST, 1 3PM · 9-12 FG

Scoring · NOP

Zion Williamson

15 PTS, 6 REB, 4 AST · 5-8 FG

Season highs

Saddiq Bey · Season-high 25 pointsKarlo Matkovic · Season-high 10 rebounds

Every player's line is in the box score below; the play-by-play is available in the BlowOutAlert workspace.

📊 Game Flow

ATL 2 largest lead Q1 11:19 (ATL 2, NOP 0) · 7-0 run, Q2 8:52–Q2 7:50

NOP 28 largest lead Q4 2:26 (ATL 93, NOP 121) · 9-0 run, Q1 2:38–Q2 11:35

Swings 1 lead changes Tied 1 time

Ahead for good: Jeremiah Fears makes running layup (Karlo Matkovic assists) (Q1 9:52, ATL 4, NOP 5).

Linescore

	1	2	3	4		T
ATL	18	30	26	25		99
NOP	35	28	29	29		121

🧮 How They Scored

ATLNOP

0Points in the paint0

0Fast-break points0

0Second-chance points0

0Points off turnovers0

46Bench points52

Four factorsHighlighted side won the factor

42.9%Effective FG%61.2%

15.8%Turnover %20.1%

26.4%Offensive rebound %31.3%

0.253Free-throw rate0.461

🎯 Shot Chart

Atlanta Hawks35/91 FG

71%Restricted Area20 of 28
55%Paint (non-RA)6 of 11
17%Mid-Range1 of 6
20%Left Corner 31 of 5
33%Right Corner 32 of 6
14%Above-break 35 of 35

New Orleans Pelicans43/76 FG

62%Restricted Area24 of 39
60%Paint (non-RA)9 of 15
60%Mid-Range3 of 5
75%Left Corner 33 of 4
100%Right Corner 31 of 1
25%Above-break 33 of 12

● made · ✕ missed, from the official shot log.

Box Score

Atlanta Hawks

Player	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	FG	3PT	FT	+/-
Nickeil Alexander-Walker G	29	12	2	1	1	0	3	3-12	0-7	6-6	-12
Luguentz Dort G	29	11	3	0	1	1	0	3-9	1-7	4-5	-15
Jalen Johnson F	28	13	7	4	0	1	4	5-11	1-3	2-2	-20
Onyeka Okongwu F-C	28	6	10	1	0	1	1	3-12	0-5	0-0	-19
Dyson Daniels G	27	8	4	3	3	0	2	3-6	0-2	2-3	-4
Kingston Flemings G	25	12	2	6	4	0	3	4-8	1-2	3-3	-17
CJ McCollum G	24	14	2	2	1	0	3	5-9	2-5	2-2	-18
Aaron Wiggins G	23	10	2	1	1	1	2	4-11	2-7	0-0	-7
Asa Newell F	19	13	4	1	0	0	1	5-11	1-6	2-2	+1
Corey Kispert F	5	0	0	1	0	0	0	0-1	0-1	0-0	+1
Dorian Finney-Smith F	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-1	0-1	0-0	+4
Jock Landale C	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	-4

New Orleans Pelicans

Player	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	FG	3PT	FT	+/-
Jeremiah Fears G	31	20	5	7	1	0	3	9-12	1-2	1-2	+21
Zion Williamson F	30	15	6	4	3	0	3	5-8	0-0	5-8	+22
Trey Murphy III F	29	15	5	5	1	1	2	4-10	1-3	6-6	+24
Saddiq Bey F	26	25	6	1	4	0	3	9-13	1-2	6-7	+8
Herbert Jones F	25	11	3	2	1	0	1	5-10	1-3	0-0	+14
Derik Queen C	23	8	8	4	1	0	3	3-6	0-0	2-2	+9
Bennedict Mathurin G-F	19	7	1	2	0	0	2	2-5	1-3	2-2	-2
Karlo Matkovic F-C	18	8	10	1	1	1	2	3-4	2-2	0-0	+17
Trendon Watford F	18	7	4	0	1	0	2	2-4	0-1	3-4	0
Bryce McGowens G	15	3	0	1	2	1	0	0-2	0-1	3-4	+5
Julian Reese F	3	2	1	0	0	0	1	1-1	0-0	0-0	-4
AJ Johnson G	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	0-1	0-0	0-0	-4

🔬 Advanced Stats

Atlanta HawksTS% true shooting · USG% usage · NET net rating · PIE player impact

Player	Role	MIN	PTS	TS%	USG%	NET	PIE
CJ McCollum	Starter	24:23	14	70.9	20.6	-38.0	8.6
Jalen Johnson	Starter	27:56	13	54.7	22.2	-31.3	9.4
Nickeil Alexander-Walker	Starter	28:46	12	41.0	25.0	-15.9	2.0
Dyson Daniels	Starter	27:13	8	54.6	12.7	-10.3	11.2
Onyeka Okongwu	Starter	27:54	6	25.0	18.3	-31.1	0.0
Asa Newell	Bench	18:44	13	54.7	27.1	+4.5	15.5
Kingston Flemings	Bench	24:39	12	64.4	19.7	-28.2	12.3
Luguentz Dort	Bench	28:34	11	49.1	15.1	-21.5	4.4
Aaron Wiggins	Bench	22:51	10	45.5	22.0	-11.4	3.9
Dorian Finney-Smith	Bench	3:04	0	0.0	12.5	+60.0	-40.0
Corey Kispert	Bench	4:34	0	0.0	9.1	+1.4	0.0
Jock Landale	Bench	1:22	0	0.0	0.0	-100.0	0.0

New Orleans PelicansTS% true shooting · USG% usage · NET net rating · PIE player impact

Player	Role	MIN	PTS	TS%	USG%	NET	PIE
Jeremiah Fears	Starter	30:41	20	77.6	21.1	+30.9	17.4
Zion Williamson	Starter	30:06	15	65.1	20.5	+36.8	11.8
Trey Murphy III	Starter	28:58	15	59.3	21.1	+39.6	13.1
Herbert Jones	Starter	24:48	11	55.0	17.2	+23.7	6.8
Karlo Matkovic	Starter	18:10	8	100.0	13.3	+39.5	19.7
Saddiq Bey	Bench	25:54	25	77.7	29.2	+10.1	24.3
Derik Queen	Bench	22:55	8	58.1	16.7	+14.9	13.2
Trendon Watford	Bench	17:54	7	60.8	17.0	0.0	10.9
Bennedict Mathurin	Bench	19:02	7	59.5	16.0	-4.5	6.7
Bryce McGowens	Bench	15:24	3	39.9	10.5	+21.1	4.6
Julian Reese	Bench	3:04	2	100.0	28.6	-60.0	-20.0
DeAndre Jordan	Bench	0	0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
AJ Johnson	Bench	3:04	0	0.0	28.6	-60.0	-60.0

🎟️ Player Props Results Consensus lines

Player	Prop	Line	Actual	Result
Saddiq Bey NOP	Points	13.5	25	Over
	Rebounds	4.5	6	Over
	Assists	1.5	1	Under
	3-pointers	1.5	1	Under
Jeremiah Fears NOP	Points	16.5	20	Over
	Rebounds	3.5	5	Over
	Assists	4.5	7	Over
	3-pointers	1.5	1	Under
	Pts + Reb + Ast	25.5	32	Over
Zion Williamson NOP	Points	21.5	15	Under
	Rebounds	5.5	6	Over
	Assists	2.5	4	Over
	Pts + Reb + Ast	30.5	25	Under
CJ McCollum ATL	Points	15.5	14	Under
	Rebounds	2.5	2	Under
	Assists	3.5	2	Under
	3-pointers	2.5	2	Under
Jalen Johnson ATL	Points	22.5	13	Under
	Rebounds	9.5	7	Under
	Assists	7.5	4	Under
	3-pointers	1.5	1	Under
	Pts + Reb + Ast	39.5	24	Under
Nickeil Alexander-Walker ATL	Points	19.5	12	Under
	Rebounds	3.5	2	Under
	Assists	3.5	1	Under
	3-pointers	3.5	0	Under
	Pts + Reb + Ast	26.5	15	Under