Spurs at Pelicans
Anthony Davis carries an impressive scoring streak into a matchup with one of the few teams that has had some success slowing him down over the years when he leads the New Orleans Pelicans against the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Monday. Davis has scored at least 40 points in back-to-back games and is averaging 32.5 over a six-game stretch for the Pelicans, who have gone 5-1 in that span.
He tied his season lows with 17 points and eight rebounds in a loss to the Spurs earlier this month and is averaging 20.4 points lifetime against them, his lowest mark versus any Western Conference opponent, although that means little with the way the superstar forward is playing right now. "It's pretty hard to stop him, especially when he gets in a groove like that," Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday told reporters after Davis went for 40 points in Saturday's 125-115 win over Denver. "We don't think anyone can guard him in the first place." San Antonio ended a three-game slide by topping short-handed Golden State 104-92 on Sunday. LaMarcus Aldridge snapped out of his offensive funk with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting as the Spurs improved to 8-4 against the West.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (San Antonio), FS New Orleans
ABOUT THE SPURS (8-7): Aldridge made just six of his 27 shot attempts over the previous two games before breaking out in the win over the Warriors. Both he and DeMar DeRozan (20 points, nine assists) played 40 minutes on the front end of the back-to-back, while no other player on the team was used for more than 30. DeRozan is averaging 6.5 assists after setting a career high of 5.2 last season with Toronto.
ABOUT THE PELICANS (9-7): Davis also recorded eight assists - and no turnovers - against the Nuggets to tie a career high. "I just realized that a lot of teams are scouting for me," he told reporters. "They didn't want me to go off, I guess, so I'm just trying to find guys, and guys are playing with a lot of confidence and making shots. They know - and I know - where they are going to be, and they know where I like them to be." The 25-year-old Davis is averaging 4.9 assists on the season, far above his career mark of two per game.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pelicans PF Nikola Mirotic has recorded three straight double-doubles since returning from an ankle injury.
2. Spurs SF Davis Bertans (concussion) missed Sunday's game while C Pau Gasol (foot) has sat out six in a row.
3. New Orleans won both home meetings in 2017-18 by an average of 20.5 points.