LOS ANGELES (Sporting Alert) — Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday combined for 45 points in leading the New Orleans Pelicans to a 104-87 win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
Six Lakers players, led by Kobe Bryant, who scored 14 points, finished in double figures, but that wasn’t enough to stop Los Angeles from dropping its third straight game.
Davis collected 23 points and six rebounds for the Pelicans (9-10), while Holiday added 22 points and eight assists in the win, as New Orleans ended a two game skid.
Ryan Anderson grabbed 11 points and 10 rebounds off the bench and Tyreke Evans had 11 points, seven assists and five rebounds in the victory for the Pelicans, which finished with 28 assists and 50 rebounds as a team.
“We shared the ball, played for each other, defended and played together,” said Davis, who shot 11 of 15 on the night told reporters after his 32 minutes outing.
“We bounced back after two bad losses. To hold a team like that to 87 points and play our style of ball was good for us.”
Nick Young scored 13 points, while Ed Davis and Carlos Boozer each had 12 points in the defeat for the Lakers, which trailed by 10 points at halftime.
Los Angeles pulled within six points in the third quarter on a Young three-pointer with 4:28 remaining, but Luke Babbitt answered back seconds later with a three as well, which started a 16-2 run by the Pelicans to end the quarter, as the visitors took a commanding 79-59 advantage.
“I thought we started off pretty good, to be honest with you,” Lakers coach Byron Scott said. “I thought as the game went on, my biggest concern was what ended up happening.
“We started missing shots. The more we missed, the more we got deterred from what we were thinking about doing.
“We started thinking about missing shots, and all of a sudden, we stop playing the defense that we started off playing.”
At Madison Square Garden, LaMarcus Aldridge knocked down two late free throws to give the Trail Blazers the lead with 2:46 remaining and then scored back-to-back buckets from the field to lead Portland (16-4) to a 103-99 win over New York (4-18).
Aldridge, who scored six of the Trail Blazers’ last seven points, finished the game with a game-high 24 points and 11 rebounds, with Damian Lillard scoring 20 points and Wesley Matthews adding 18 points in the win.
Carmelo Anthony paced the Knicks with 23 points and 10 rebounds, J.R. Smith came off the bench to add 20 points, while Amar’e Stoudemire finished with 16 points and 10 boards in the defeat as New York dropped its eighth successive game.
It is also the first time that the Knicks have started a season 4-18.
“Losing games as close as we are losing them, whether it’s five or six points over the past 13 games, this is new to me. This feeling is new to me,” a very disappointed Anthony told reporters.
“This situation is new to me. But, we’re not going to stop and I’m not going to stop.
“The easy thing to do is to stop right now, hang your heads, and nobody is going to feel sorry for us so we’ve got to keep on going.”
NBA Box Scores and Results on Dec. 7
Sunday, December 7
Portland 103, New York 99 – Box Score
Dallas 125, Milwaukee 102 – Box Score
Memphis 103, Miami 87 – Box Score
Oklahoma City 96, Detroit 94 – Box Score
Boston 101, Washington 93 – Box Score
Atlanta 96, Denver 84 – Box Score
New Orleans 104, LA Lakers 87 – Box Score
