Phoenix, AZ (SportsNetwork.com) - Goran Dragic scored a career-high 40 points with five assists to lead the Phoenix Suns to a 116-104 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Dragic, who sat out Wednesday's loss at Utah with a sprained ankle, set his previous career high at 35 last Sunday against Houston.
"I think he's in the point in his career where he's seeing every possible defense and when they do something, he adjusts to it," Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek said of Dragic. "When you go for 40, you're pretty darn good."
Markieff Morris scored 18 points, while his brother Marcus added 15 as the Suns snapped their three-game losing streak.
Gerald Green added 12 points in the win.
Anthony Davis tied a career-high with 32 points to go along with nine rebounds, and Eric Gordon tallied 21 points in the setback, New Orleans' sixth in a row.
"We just couldn't get the stops," New Orleans head coach Monty Williams admitted. "We just couldn't get the ball. Dragic was in our paint all night long."
Dragic made a layup to give the Suns a 66-62 lead with just under seven minutes left in the third. From there, the Suns went cold as the Pelicans opened up a double-digit lead.
Gordon nailed a 3 to ignite a 17-3 run which he closed with a pair at the line to give the visitors a 79-69 lead with 2:39 remaining in the third.
Marcus Morris made a layup to end a stretch of 4:28 that the Suns were held without a field goal. The layup sparked a 12-2 run for the Suns to end the third quarter and tie the game at 81-81 entering the fourth.
Trailing by three, Dragic made a layup to spark a 10-0 spurt. The Suns point guard later knocked down a 3 and then hit a jumper to give the hosts a 105-92 lead with 4 1/2 minutes left in the game.
New Orleans answered with six straight points to cut the deficit to seven, but couldn't get any closer than six the rest of the way.
The Suns led 30-28 after one quarter and brought a 56-54 lead into the halftime break.
Game Notes
Prior to the game, New Orleans announced that guard Jrue Holiday will have surgery on the stress fracture in his right leg, ending his season ... New Orleans shot 42-of-78 (53.8 percent) from the floor... Phoenix, meanwhile, was 40-of-74 (54.1 percent) from the floor ... The Suns owned a 35-32 edge on the glass ... Phoenix scored 22 points off 14 New Orleans turnovers.
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