76ers at Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans are winners of three straight and have climbed two games over .500 behind a healthy Anthony Davis. The Philadelphia 76ers, who visit the Pelicans on Monday, were lucky enough to miss Davis when the teams met on Jan. 16 and ended up with a 96-81 victory. The 76ers have dropped five in a row since that win and are averaging 85 points in those games to bring their streak to 21 straight without reaching the century mark.
Philadelphia began its two-game road trip with a 101-83 loss at Memphis on Saturday while committing 24 turnovers. “Twenty-four turnovers is an enormous number,” 76ers coach Brett Brown told reporters. “Especially here, where you need to find possessions in order to put points up. When you lose that many possessions, you’re really putting yourself behind the eight ball.” Davis created a few turnovers by himself Sunday, when he recorded five steals in a 109-106 win over Dallas.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, CSN Philadelphia, FSN New Orleans
ABOUT THE 76ERS (8-36): Philadelphia’s bright spot in Saturday’s loss came from rookie forward Jerami Grant, who scored a season-high 16 points. “You see the ability to catch it and get to the rim with one dribble and dunk when they guard him close at the 3-point line,” Brown told reporters. “He’s just growing a real package. Over the last few weeks, Jerami Grant’s catching people’s eyes, and he should.” Grant had eight blocks in a game last week and has knocked down multiple 3-pointer in two of the last four contests.
ABOUT THE PELICANS (23-21): New Orleans’ winning streak coincides with Davis’ return from a toe injury, and the standout big man is averaging 26 points and 10 rebounds in those three contests. The Pelicans lost point guard Jrue Holiday to an ankle injury, but Tyreke Evans has stepped up to handle the distribution duties and is averaging 10 assists in the last two games while putting up 21.8 points on 50.6 percent shooting in the last five contests. Evans struggled to eight points on 3-of-7 shooting while turning it over seven times in the loss to the 76ers.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pelicans C Omer Asik is averaging 10.5 rebounds while shooting 62.5 percent from the field in the last four games.
2. 76ers F Furkan Aldemir had his second career double-digit rebound game with 11 on Saturday.
3. Davis averages 15 points and 8.7 rebounds in three career games against Philadelphia.