NBA Game Preview - Houston at New Orleans

Sun Dec 29, 2019 8:00 PM EST

The New Orleans Pelicans' defense is playing really well.

Now comes a really strong test, when New Orleans hosts James Harden and the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.

The Pelicans have won four of their last five games, matching their best stretch of the season. In those games, they have allowed an average of 99.4 points, after a 120-98 home victory against Indiana on Saturday.

"We just know that it starts with defense," guard Lonzo Ball said. "All of our wins come from us playing good defense. We're just trying to carry that out through the season."

The defensive improvement has coincided with the return of center Derrick Favors, who has missed time because of multiple injuries as well as the death of his mother last month.

Favors had 10 points and 16 rebounds, and New Orleans had a 56-53 rebounding advantage against Indiana.

"Our defense is settling in, especially in the rebounding part of it," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. "(The Pacers are) one of the best rebounding teams in the league, and, actually, we outrebounded them. Just having (Favors) back and having that veteran presence meant a lot, especially in rebounding. Having him back has been great."

New Orleans' offense was pretty good against the Pacers as well. After falling behind 32-19 after the first quarter, the Pelicans took a 48-45 halftime lead and pulled away by scoring 72 second-half points.

"I think everybody is feeling pretty comfortable on what they are doing on the defensive end, and that's relating to our rhythm in our offense," said forward Brandon Ingram, who led seven double-figure New Orleans scorers with 24 points.

Harden, the NBA's leading scorer at 38.3 points per game, had his 13th game of at least 40 points on Saturday, when his 44 led the way in a 108-98 home victory against the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday. He also had 10 rebounds and six assists.

Russell Westbrook added 23 points, his 10th consecutive game with at least 20 points, and Austin Rivers added 14 points off the bench.

The Rockets bounced back from a 116-104 loss at Golden State on Wednesday, which ended a four-game winning streak.

"I think the good teams make mistakes and are able to bounce back," Rivers said. "Good teams don't lose two or three games in a row. That was kind of our mindset coming into this one after giving up a bad loss, the worst loss of the year. Our veteran play tonight showed through."

Houston's defense was key also as it held the Nets to six points in the final seven minutes.

"The last four or five minutes, the defense was good," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said. "You've got to be able to rely on defense when the shots don't go. I thought tonight we did it.

"It wasn't pretty. We got some things we've definitely got to get better at. I told the guys, they're a little down, but we're 22-10. Take a breath. Understand what we got to do. What we got to fix and let's fix it."

The Rockets are 2-0 against the Pelicans and averaged 124 points in those games. Harden averaged 34 points and Westbrook averaged 27.

--Field Level Media