NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Saddiq Bey scored 25 points in a reserve role, Jeremiah Fears added 20 points, and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Atlanta Hawks 121-99 on Saturday night.
Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy III each scored 15 for the Pelicans, who lead by 28 en route to their second straight victory after losing their first four games.
CJ McCollum, playing in New Orleans for the first time since the Pelicans traded him to Washington in June 2025, scored 14 points for Atlanta. Fans applauded while a tribute video that the Pelicans produced for McCollum played on the videoboards above the court.
But the Hawks, who’ve lost four of five, missed 38 of 46 3-point shots (17.4%) they attempted and never trailed by fewer than 10 points after falling behind by that amount late in the first quarter.
Making matters worse for Atlanta, reserve guard Kingston Flemmings, who scored 12 points, received a technical foul and was ejected for elbowing Pelicans reserve guard Bryce McGowens in the face during the final minutes.
The incident caused a brief scrum in which most players and coaches served as peace makers. Officials reviewed video before ejecting Flemmings.
Both of New Orleans' victories have come since first-year coach Jamahl Mosley tinkered with the starting lineup, inserting versatile Croation Karlo Matkovic at and defensive standout Herb Jones at shooting guard. They joined incumbent starters Williamson, Murphy and Fears.
Matkovic grabbed 10 rebounds and hit a pair of corner 3s on his way to eight points. Jones scored 11 points. Fears, meanwhile, hit the 20-point mark for a second straight game.
The Pelicans raced to a 35-18 lead in the first quarter, when they shot 56% and turned eight Hawks turnovers into 16 points. New Orleans still led by double digits at halftime, 63-48.
New Orleans led by as many as 20 in the third quarter before taking a 92-74 lead into the fourth quarter.
Hawks: At Indiana on Monday night.
Pelicans: At Memphis on Monday night.
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