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Utah Jazz vs New Orleans Pelicans recap: final score and what we learned (Week of Nov 5–11, 2026)

NBA Audit · Week of Nov 5–11, 2026 · Game recap

The New Orleans Pelicans did what our preview said they should do, beating the Utah Jazz 120–113 at home. It wasn't a blowout, and it wasn't especially pretty from deep. But the Pelicans took a game against a struggling opponent and didn't let it get away.

For Utah, it's another loss in a stretch that already had one win in its recent games. For New Orleans, it's a result that backs up the idea that the Pelicans can beat the teams they're supposed to beat.

The result

The story here is the free-throw line, and it's not close. New Orleans made 39 of 43, which is 91 percent. Utah made 20 of 30, which is 67 percent. The Jazz also committed 33 fouls to the Pelicans' 26. When one team lives at the line and shoots it that well, it can win even when the rest of the box score looks ordinary.

And the rest of it was ordinary. The Pelicans shot 43 percent from the field, 38 of 89. The Jazz were actually a touch better at 44 percent, 41 of 94. Rebounding was a wash, with Utah grabbing 49 to New Orleans' 48. The Jazz had 24 assists to the Pelicans' 23, though New Orleans came away with 10 steals to Utah's 8.

Then there's the three-point line, where neither team had a good night. New Orleans hit 5 of 20, or 25 percent. Utah hit 11 of 47, or 23 percent. The Jazz let it fly all night and got very little back for the volume. Eleven makes is a real number, but it took 47 attempts to get there, and that's a hard way to chase a game.

How our preview held up

We picked the Pelicans, and that was correct. The preview's core argument was that New Orleans had the clearer path: home court, a better scoring profile and a Utah offense that struggled to keep up. The final margin of 7 fits that without making the Jazz look helpless.

Where I'd give Utah some credit is the scoring. We said the Jazz offense was the main problem, and they put up 113, well above their season average of 109.3 points per game. They shot a fair percentage and got plenty of shots up. The offense wasn't the reason they lost this one.

What the preview didn't see coming was how much the game would turn on free throws. We talked about matchup grades and scoring rates, not about a Pelicans team that would shoot 91 percent at the line while Utah fouled its way into trouble. We also flagged that New Orleans couldn't coast defensively because it allows 116.5 points per game. The Pelicans held Utah to 113, below that figure, and that was enough.

The caveat about the Jazz catching fire didn't play out either. Utah took 47 threes and shot 23 percent. That's volume, not heat.

What it means

For New Orleans, this is a clean, useful win. The Pelicans were not great from three, and they still got to 120 by getting to the line and finishing there. That's a sustainable way to score if the free throws keep coming, though a 91 percent night is hard to count on every time.

For Utah, the picture is frustrating. The Jazz matched New Orleans on assists, nearly matched them on shooting percentage and won the rebounding battle by a single board. The gap came from free throws and a lot of missed threes. If the Jazz can clean up the fouling and find a better return on their long-range attempts, the margin in games like this shrinks quickly. Until then, they'll keep finding ways to be close and still lose.

Read our pre-game preview: Utah Jazz vs New Orleans Pelicans prediction and preview: team news, form and key matchups (Nov 4)

Final score

Team stats

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Data attribution: Stats for informational analysis only. Verify figures against official league sources.