Davis' 31 points leads Pelicans past Hornets
Anthony Davis had 31 points and 14 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Charlotte Hornets 119-115 on Tuesday night at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.
Jrue Holiday added 25 points, as the Pelicans ended a two-game losing streak to keep pace in the tightly contested Western Conference playoff race. E'Twaun Moore and Emeka Okafor scored 14 points each, Rajon Rondo had 12 points and 17 assists, Ian Clark scored 12 and Nikola Mirotic had 11.
Dwight Howard had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Kemba Walker scored 22, Frank Kaminsky had 21, Nicolas Batum 20 and Jeremy Lamb 16 to lead the Hornets, who lost for the sixth time in their last seven games.
New Orleans led by seven points at halftime, but Howard scored five points as Charlotte began the third quarter with an 11-6 run.
The Pelicans scored the next six points, but the Hornets followed with an 8-0 run to tie the score at 84.
The score was tied three more times in the period, including 92-all at the end of it.
Kaminsky converted a three-point play and made a 3-pointer to help Charlotte take a 104-98 lead, but New Orleans regained the lead as Clark's 3-pointer finished a 7-0 run.
The lead changed hands four times, the final time when Holiday's 3-pointer gave the Pelicans a 110-108 lead. He added a layup for a 112-108 lead with 1:52 left.
Batum made two free throws before Holiday made another 3-pointer and another layup for a 117-110 lead with 30 seconds left.
Kaminsky made a basket, and after a Davis turnover, made a 3-pointer to get Charlotte within 117-115 with 5.8 seconds left. Davis made two free throws with 2.8 seconds left.
Walker scored 11 points, but Davis had 10 and New Orleans made 55.2 percent (16 of 29) of its shots in taking a 37-32 lead after one quarter.
Davis scored nine points as the Pelicans took their biggest lead of the first half at 61-50.
Walker and Batum each made a 3-pointer as Charlotte got within three points before Mirotic scored five points to help New Orleans take a 72-65 halftime lead.
--Field Level Media
