New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado. Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Jose Alvarado steals win for Pelicans

By Sean Keane | Last updated 11/13/22

Jose Alvarado did everything for the New Orleans Pelicans Saturday night. He frustrated his opponents to the point that an altercation ensued.

Alvarado had eight points, three assists, two rebounds and three steals in the 4th quarter of the Pels' 119-106 win over the Houston Rockets. The last steal infuriated the Rockets' Kevin Porter Jr. so much that he got himself - and Alvarado - ejected from the game.

Porter reportedly thought Alvarado was "showboating" when he stole an inbounds pass up 11 points with 11 seconds left. Generally this wouldn't have gotten an ejection, but the referees also thought the competitive part of the game was over, and kicked them out to avoid further hostilities. Of course, Porter was likely still seething after Alvarado picked his pocket under his own basket earlier and took it in for a layup.

Play of the game pic.twitter.com/R9xBDqb3yi
— Christian Clark (@cclark_13) November 13, 2022

Alvarado is notorious for getting under opponents' skin, including Chris Paul in last year's playoffs, who he harassed into multiple eight-second violations and a technical. He's well on his way to becoming one of the NBA's great pests - and one of the Pelicans' best secret weapons.

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