The recipe that produced the New Orleans Pelicans’ first victory of the season worked for a second consecutive game.

The exact measurements of the particular ingredients weren’t identical, but the final product turned out just as good.

The Pelicans mixed together a swarming defense that produced a significant number of points off turnovers and a balanced scoring attack fueled by selfless sharing of the basketball to defeat the Atlanta Hawks 121-99 on Saturday night in the Smoothie King Center.

A similar mixture produced a 132-120 victory over the Sacramento Kings two nights earlier in the same building.

“The effort and the energy and the toughness that we’ve asked (the players) to play with is getting closer to the 48 (minutes) of what it needs to look like,” New Orleans head coach Jamahl Mosley said.

The Pelicans had 18 steals and scored a franchise-record 40 points off turnovers against the Kings; they had 15 steals and scored 34 points off turnovers against the Hawks, giving them a franchise-record 74 points off turnovers over a two-game stretch and a record 98 such points over a three-game stretch, dating to a 104-91 home loss to Denver on Wednesday. The 47 steals during the three-game stretch also set a record for that span of games.

“Our defense has to create our offense and that’s what these guys are starting to create,” Mosley said.

As for the offense, New Orleans had five double-figure scorers after having seven two nights earlier. All but one of the 12 Pelicans who played Saturday scored (after 10 scored against the Kings) while Dejounte Murray (birth of his son), Jordan Poole (ankle injury) and Yves Missi (knee) remained sidelined.

Mosley said after the victory Thursday night that he was most pleased with his team getting 32 assists on 50 field goals. It had another strong effort Saturday by getting 27 assists on 43 field goals.

Saddiq Bey scored 25 points, Jeremiah Fears had 20, Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy had 15 each, and Herb Jones added 11 for the Pelicans (2-4), who will visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night.

“Saddiq is a guy that if he wanted to he could score 20 every night,” Williamson said, “but he does what’s asked of him.”

Former Pelicans guard CJ McCollum scored 14 points in his first game against his former team, Jalen Johnson and Asa Newell had 13 each, Kingston Flemings and Nickeil Alexander-Walker had 12 each, Lu Dort added 11 and Aaron Wiggins scored 10 to lead the Hawks (3-4).

Atlanta made just 8 of 46 on 3-pointers (17%) and New Orleans took just 17, making seven for 41%. The Pelicans shot 57% from the floor overall. It was the first time New Orleans took fewer than 20 3-pointers in a game since April 1, 2023, when it took 17 against the Los Angeles Clippers.

One of the reasons the Pelicans shot so few 3-pointers if the success they had near the basket, outscoring the Hawks 66-52 in points in the paint.

The Pelicans had a 63-48 lead after a first half in which they led by double figures for all but the first eight minutes, but McCollum scored the first five points of the third quarter to trim the margin to 10.

Fears and Williamson scored on consecutive layups, and Karlo Matkovic — who finished with a game-high 10 rebounds — later added a 3-pointer that extended the lead to 74-55. The lead reached 20 on two occasions before New Orleans held a 92-74 lead at the end of the third quarter. The Pelicans expanded the lead to as many as 28 points in the fourth quarter.

The Pelicans picked up where they left off against Sacramento. They had six steals among the Hawks’ eight turnovers, leading to 16 New Orleans points, in the first period.

Atlanta shot just 30% from the floor, including 2 of 11 on 3-pointers, while the Pelicans shot 56%, including 3 of 9 on 3-pointers, in taking a 35-18 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Bey made a jumper to start the second-quarter scoring before the Hawks crept within 41-31 on a 3-pointer by Wiggins. Williamson made a layup to complete a 9-0 run that pushed the lead back to 18.

Dyson Daniels scored Atlanta’s final four points to help it trim the lead to 63-48 at halftime.