Davis nails winner to lift Pelicans past Suns
PHOENIX -- Anthony Davis had 24 points, 10 rebounds and the winning basket with 40.3 seconds left to give the New Orleans Pelicans a 110-108 win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday.
Davis gave New Orleans (22-34) the lead for good by pulling down an offense rebound and putting back a 10-foot jump hook to make it 109-108 Pelicans.
Tyreke Evans made one of two free throws to extend the lead to 110-108 with 18.4 seconds left.
The Suns had three chances to tie the game on their final possession, but Eric Bledsoe missed a driving layup and P.J. Tucker missed two chances off offensive rebounds.
Bledsoe scored a game-high 37 points for the Suns (17-39), who lost three of four meetings with New Orleans his season.
Jru Holiday had 18 points and eight assists for the Pelicans, who won for the third time in their last nine games. Evans and E'Twaun Moore had 15 each.
Devin Booker had 21 points for Phoenix and Tucker had 11 points and 16 rebounds off the bench.
The Pelicans led by as many as seven early in the first period, with Davis scoring eight points. But Bledsoe and Booker who averaged a combined 43.7 points in three previous games with New Orleans this season, had 19 points and five assists in the first period and Phoenix trailed by one at 29-28 after one.
Alex Len had eight of his 10 points in the second period as Phoenix used a 14-0 run midway through the quarter to open a 56-44 lead on a Marquese Chriss free throw with 2:58 left. But New Orleans outscored the Suns 9-2 the rest of the half and pulled to within 58-53 on Langston Galloway's 3-pointer with 7.3 seconds left.
The Pelicans opened the third quarter with a 10-2 run as well, and took the lead back 63-60 on a Buddy Hield 3-pointer with 9:16 left. But the Suns ended the quarter on a 9-3 run and Tucker's ninth rebound of the quarter, a tip-in with 27.3 seconds left, gave the Suns an 80-77 lead after three.
NOTES: New Orleans played without F Terrence Jones (right thumb sprain) and F Dante Cunningham (personal issue). Alexis Ajinca started for Jones. "Those are two very important guys, and to have them both out puts us in a little precarious situation, but we'll have to deal with it," coach Alvin Gentry said pregame. ... Suns F Tyson Chandler returned after missing one game due to a sprained right ankle. ... Pelicans C Anthony Davis came into the game averaging 28 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2.5 rebounds per games. The last center to average those numbers for an entire season was Shaquille O'Neal (28.7 points, 12.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks) with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000-01. ... F P.J. Tucker came into the game with at least one steal in 16 consecutive games, the longest streak by a Sun since Shawn Marion had a 17-game run in 2006-07. Tucker was averaging 2.25 steals per game during the streak.