Bobcats 90, Pelicans 87: Al Jefferson scored 33 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to carry host Charlotte to its third straight win.

Jefferson was 14-for-30 from the floor while his fellow starters were 10-for-30, with Kemba Walker contributing 13 points and eight assists. Cody Zeller came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points and Anthony Tolliver added nine on 3-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc for the Bobcats, who had a 36-11 advantage in free-throw attempts.

Anthony Davis collected 18 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots for New Orleans before fouling out in the final minute. Brian Roberts scored 20 points but had the ball taken from him before he could get up a potential game-tying shot in the final second.

Roberts had six points during a 12-0 burst that pulled the Pelicans within 79-78 with 3:18 left but Jefferson ended Charlotte's drought of nearly four minutes with a three-point play and snapped an 84-84 tie by splitting two free throws with 39.3 seconds left. Eric Gordon missed a foul shot with 11 ticks remaining that would have tied it for New Orleans and Walker made four in a row in the closing seconds before Roberts' last-ditch push was thwarted by Josh McRoberts.

Jefferson scored 14 of the first 16 points for the Bobcats to help them to a 25-17 lead after one quarter, and threw down a dunk late in the first half as the hosts took an 11-point lead into the locker room. Zeller scored six points in the closing moments of the third and hit a jumper early in the fourth ahead of Tolliver's 3-pointer to make it 73-61 with just over 10 minutes left.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Newly-acquired Bobcats G Gary Neal and G Luke Ridnour did not suit up and head coach Steve Clifford said he may not utilize them Saturday against Memphis. ... The Pelicans had 32 points at halftime, a low for any half for a Bobcats opponent. ... Excluding Tolliver, Charlotte was 0-for-12 from beyond the arc.