Hornets fight back from 22 down to beat Pelicans 102-95 for 7th straight victory

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — LaMelo Ball overcame an early head-to-head collision with coach Charles Lee to score 24 points, and the surging Charlotte Hornets fought back from a 22-point deficit to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 102-95 on Monday for their seventh straight win.

Kon Knueppel added 17 points, hitting four 3s, and Brandon Miller and Grant Williams each scored 16 as Charlotte pulled within a half-game of the Atlanta Hawks for the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Hornets overcame 17 turnovers while matching their longest winning streak since March 2016.

Trey Murphy III scored 27 points to lead the Pelicans, who have lost six of their last nine. Zion Williamson finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Derik Queen had 16 points.

ROCKETS 118, PACERS 114

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Alperen Sengun matched his season high with 39 points, and Jabari Smith Jr. added 19 to help short-handed Houston overcome the absence of All-Star forward Kevin Durant to beat Indiana.

Durant sat out, coach Ime Udoka said, after spraining his left ankle when he stepped on a fan’s foot. The Rockets already were missing center Steven Adams, who is expected to miss the rest of this season following surgery on his injured left ankle, so Sengun did the heavy lifting.

He made 13 of 25 from the field and 13 of 18 from the free-throw line including 8 of 12 during the fourth quarter. Houston won its third straight, got its fifth victory in six games and captured its third straight on the road.

All-Star forward Pascal Siakam finished with 27 points and Bennedict Mathurin added 25 to lead the Pacers, who charged back from a 12-point deficit in the third quarter to take the lead. But they didn’t have quite enough to extend their winning streak to a season-best three straight.

GRIZZLIES 137, TIMBERWOLVES 128

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 30 points, Ty Jerome added 19 and Memphis built a 20-point lead in the second half and held on for a victory over Minnesota.

Memphis maintained a double-digit advantage through much of the fourth quarter. Minnesota, behind Donte DiVincenzo and Anthony Edwards, seemed poised to overtake Memphis, but the Grizzlies never let the Timberwolves within nine points and snapped a six-game losing streak.

Jaylen Wells scored 18 points for Memphis, while Cam Spencer and Vince WIlliams Jr. added 16 points apiece.

Edwards led Minnesota with 39 points and seven rebounds. Jaden McDaniels scored 29 points and DiVincenzo finished with 21, including 13 in the fourth. Minnesota had its four-game win streak halted.

76ERS 128, CLIPPERS 113

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Tyrese Maxey scored 29 points, including seven 3-pointers, Dominick Barlow added 26 points and 16 rebounds, and Philadelphia beat Los Angeles for their fourth consecutive victory.

The game featured two big names who weren’t selected as All-Star reserves: Joel Embiid of the Sixers and Kawhi Leonard of the Clippers.

Embiid had 24 points as he continues to gain full strength after a right ankle injury. The Sixers improved to 11-10 without Paul George, who is serving a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug program.

Leonard led the Clippers with 29 points and Jordan Miller had 21 points off the bench.

Los Angeles was without James Harden, who missed his second straight game due to personal reasons. Coach Tyronn Lue said before the game that Harden was at home in Phoenix.

New Orleans Pelicans forward Karlo Matkovic (17) drives to the basket against Charlotte Hornets center Ryan Kalkbrenner, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran's president said Tuesday that he instructed the country’s foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiations” with the United States, the first clear sign from Tehran it wants to try to negotiate as tensions remain high with Washington after the Mideast country's bloody crackdown on nationwide protests last month.

The announcement marked a major turn for reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian, who broadly had warned Iranians for weeks the turmoil in his country had gone beyond his control. It also signals that the president received support from Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for talks that the 86-year-old cleric previously had dismissed.

Turkey had been working behind the scenes to make the talks happen there later this week as U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff will be traveling to the region.

But whether Iran and the U.S. can reach an agreement remains to be seen, particularly as President Donald Trump now has included Iran's nuclear program in a list of demands from Tehran in any talks. Trump ordered the bombing of three Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day war Israel launched against Iran in June.

Writing on X, Pezeshkian said in English and Farsi that the decision came after “requests from friendly governments in the region to respond to the proposal by the President of the United States for negotiations.”

“I have instructed my Minister of Foreign Affairs, provided that a suitable environment exists — one free from threats and unreasonable expectations — to pursue fair and equitable negotiations, guided by the principles of dignity, prudence, and expediency,” he said.

The U.S. has yet to acknowledge the talks will take place. A semiofficial news agency in Iran on Monday reported — then later deleted without explanation — that Pezeshkian had issued such an order to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who held multiple rounds of talks with Witkoff before the 12-day war.

Witkoff is expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli security officials on Tuesday, according to a White House official who was not authorized to comment publicly about the talks and spoke on condition of anonymity. He will travel to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, later in the week for Russia-Ukraine talks, the official said.

“We have talks going on with Iran, we’ll see how it all works out,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday. Asked what his threshold was for military action against Iran, he declined to elaborate.

“I’d like to see a deal negotiated,” Trump said. “Right now, we’re talking to them, we’re talking to Iran, and if we could work something out, that’d be great. And if we can’t, probably bad things would happen.”

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani, Matthew Lee and Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - Masoud Pezeshkian, the President of Iran, attends the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters, on Sept. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, File)