De’Andre Hunter celebrated his 27th birthday by scoring 22 points to lead Atlanta past the New Orleans Pelicans 124-112 on Monday. In doing so, he extended the Hawks’ best winning streak this season to four games.

Hunter shot 8 of 14 from the field and made 4 of 7 3-point attempts to help the Hawks reach .500 for the first time since Oct. 28, when they were 2-2. The Hawks won the two-game season series with New Orleans.

Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson added 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Dyson Daniels scored 19 points and grabbed four steals. Trae Young had 12 points and 15 assists and Clint Capela grabbed 17 rebounds.

New Orleans got 29 points from CJ McCollum and Yves Missi added 23 points and 12 rebounds. Brandon Boston Jr. came off the bench and scored 19 points. Dejounte Murray, who played the last two seasons for Atlanta, shot just 2 of 15 from the floor and had seven points, 10 assists and five steals in his return.

The Pelicans have lost nine straight games and have lost 15 of their last 16.

New Orleans led 28-26 after the first quarter. The Pelicans’ point total matched the number of points New Orleans scored in the entire first half on Sunday in a 118-85 loss to the New York Knicks.

Aided by Atlanta’s 11 first-half turnovers and Boston’s 14 points off the bench, New Orleans held a 59-58 halftime lead. The Pelicans led by as many as nine points and were up 46-37 before halftime after a basket by Murray with 5:13 left.

Atlanta took the lead and began to pull away late in the third quarter, using an 11-2 run to build an 85-75 lead. Hunter had two 3-pointers and Young sank his first three-pointer of the game while sprinting. Atlanta led 92-85 early in the fourth quarter.

The Pelicans played without Zion Williamson (hamstring), Brandon Ingram (leg), Jose Alvarado (hamstring), Herbert Jones (shoulder) and Jordan Hawkins (back).

The Hawks’ next game is Wednesday in Milwaukee. The Pelicans return home to take on the Phoenix Suns on Thursday.

–Field level media