In a rare and almost sarcastic manner the New Orleans Pelicans head coach Monty Williams decided to bench his entire starting five during the last quarter of their game against the Houston Rockets. Williams' decision however can be explained by his teams own performance, the Pelicans entered the fourth quarter confidently ahead of the Rockets with a score 60-89. The game ends with the score 83-111.

Ryan Anderson led the Pelicans in points with 22 points. Tyreke Evans added another 21points and handed out five assists. Despite the absence of the starting five in the fourth quarter, the Pelicans bench did what was expected of them to do and that is to keep the lead until the buzzer strikes. The Pelicans bench did a good job and managed to hold on to the lead only letting the Rockets starter score 23 points in the final quarter. One of the highlights of the game was guard Jimmer Fredette alley-hoop assist to Austin Rivers which resulted in a slam dunk. Despite the Pelicans heart break loss to the Spurs on their own home court it did not deter the team in doing their best to keep their home record at 11-4. The early scoring streak of the Pelicans was a good strategy to use to keep the Rockets at bay, especially if they want to avoid a late game drama.

Dwight Howard has not brought his A game with him only managing to score 12 points and five rebounds. James Harden only scored 11 points and Corey Brewer added 12 points. Early in the third quarter after the Pelicans made a 6-0 run extending their lead to 22 points, Rockets coach Kevin McHale was so angry at his players that he pulled off all his starters in the game and let the bench players play for almost the entire quarter.

On a post-game interview Pelicans guard Ryan Anderson said "We just did a great job of playing together tonight. When they took their starters out, we brought in the huddle and said just keep being aggressive. We played together and got a big enough lead to sit down and rest."