Pelicans 103, Knicks 99
NEW YORK -- The New Orleans Pelicans overcame an injury to their star player, power forward Anthony Davis, to get a gritty 103-99 win over the New York Knicks before 19,812 at Madison Square Garden.
The Pelicans (8-8) played the last three quarters without Davis, who left the game in the first quarter with a non-displaced fracture of his left hand.
Davis scored just seven points in 10:27 action. How long he will be out was not immediately provided by the Pelicans.
Power forward Ryan Anderson came off the Pelicans' bench to score 31 points.
Forward Carmelo Anthony led five Knicks (3-13) in double figure scoring with 23 points. He was followed by guard Tim Hardaway Jr. (21), power forward Andrea Bargnani (17) and point guard Raymond Felton and guard J.R. Smith points apiece.
New York has lost nine straight, including six at home.
Davis' injury forced Pelicans coach Monty Williams to employ a smaller, but quicker, three-guard lineup. Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon and Jrue Holiday were able to penetrate the Knicks interior, combining for 45 points and 18 assists.
Anderson's put-back gave the Pelicans a 94-93 lead with just over 4:00 to play and forward Al-Farouq Aminu's uncontested layup moved it to 96-93 with 3:32 left to play.
Anthony's 3-pointer with just under a minute left cut the New Orleans lead to 102-99, but his chance to tie it with 20 seconds fell short.
The Pelicans led 76-74 after three quarters thanks to four 3-pointers from Anderson and six points from Holiday.
After Felton's 3-pointer tied it at 36-36 with 3:30 left in the half, the Knicks outscored New Orleans 13-8 to grab a 49-44 lead at the break.
Felton was an effective scorer for New York in the first half, scoring 10 points and registering five assists.
The Knicks led after the first quarter for the first time since Nov. 20 against Indiana, a game they ultimately lost. Bargnani dropped in six points and blocked three shots to help the Knicks to the 20-16 advantage.
NOTES: The Knicks shot just 42 percent from the floor during their recent four game road trip. ... New York hasn't scored more than 100 points in seven straight contests. ... Knicks F Carmelo Anthony has led the team in scoring in all 15 games this season, the only player in the NBA to be his team's top scorer in every game. ... PF Kenyon Martin started his seventh straight game for the Knicks after playing limited minutes the first nine games of the season. ... The Pelicans are second in the league in steals per game with 9.73 per game. ... New Orleans F Anthony Davis' 3.87 blocks per game leads the NBA. Davis is seventh in rebounds per game (10.6).
