NEW ORLEANS — Isaiah Thomas scored 14 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and the Boston Celtics won for the fifth time in seven games, 104-98 over the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
Louisiana native and former LSU star Brandon Bass added 17 points and Evan Turner had 14 for Boston. The Celtics hit 10 3-pointers on 23 attempts.
Anthony Davis had 29 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks for New Orleans, which lost for just the second time in eight games and missed an opportunity to pull into a tie with Oklahoma City for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Eric Gordon added 20 points and Tyreke Evans had 11 for the Pelicans. They shot a bit better than Boston, but committed 18 turnovers — leading to 20 Celtics points.
Jae Crowder, starting for the injured Celtics guard Avery Bradley, had 11 points, nine rebounds and four steals.
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