McCollum leads hot-shooting Pelicans past Raptors, 120-90

Updated Feb. 14, 2022 10:32 p.m. ET

Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — CJ McCollum scored 23 points, and the New Orleans Pelicans shot a season-best 58.4% to defeat the Toronto Raptors 120-90 on Monday night.

Brandon Ingram had 10 points and 11 rebounds and eight assists, leaving him two short of his first triple-double when he was pulled after playing 29 minutes because the game was not close — and because New Orleans plays again Tuesday night.

Jonas Valanciunas had 18 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes, and reserve big man Jackson Hayes added 14 points for New Orleans, which never trailed and led by as many as 34 points.

The Pelicans had a season-high 36 assists as a team on 45 made field goals, and tied a season high with 16 3s on 36 attempts (44.4%).

Fred VanVleet scored 20 points and Pascal Siakam added 18 points for Toronto, which has lost two straight on the heels of an eight-game winning streak.

The Raptors shot just 30.5% (29 of 95), and the game might have been more lopsided if Toronto, which came in second in the NBA in offensive rebounds, hadn't snagged 20 of their own missed shots and converted those into 24 second-chance points.

TIP-INS

Raptors: Reserve Chris Boucher scored 15 points, hitting nine of 12 free throws, in 23 minutes. ... VanVleet has scored at least 20 points in seven straight games. ... Siakam's streak of 20-point games was snapped at six. ... The Raptors scored just seven points off of 14 Pelicans turnovers.

Pelicans: Tony Snell played for the first time since being traded from Portland as part of the deal that also brought McCollum to New Orleans. Snell had eight points, two rebounds and an assist in 14 minutes. ... Herb Jones scored 11 points and reserve guard Garrett Temple also scored 11, hitting three of four 3-point shots and four of five shots overall in 14 minutes.

UP NEXT

Raptors: Visit Minnesota on Wednesday night in their final game before the All-Star break.

Pelicans: Hosts Memphis on Tuesday night in the fifth of six straight home games.

___

More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports