Pelicans at Knicks
The New York Knicks snapped a six-game losing streak with their best win of the season, a wire-to-wire victory at Boston on Wednesday. They will now try to get revenge for one of those six straight losses when they host the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
The Pelicans used a 41-point fourth quarter to storm to a 129-124 win over the Knicks at home earlier this month, one of New York's many woeful defensive efforts during the slide, which came to an abrupt halt with a more complete effort at TD Garden. "We're 5-14. We've still got a lot of learning to do," Knicks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. told reporters after Wednesday's win. "We'll go and look at film on Friday. But everybody should go home with a smile on their face and eat good (Thursday), you know, because we got a win." The victory over New York ignited a three-game winning streak for New Orleans but a missed free throw by superstar forward Anthony Davis was the difference in Wednesday's 121-120 loss at Philadelphia. Davis, who had 43 points against the Knicks, was held to 12 points by the 76ers, nearly 16 below his average entering the night.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS New Orleans, MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE PELICANS (10-8): Jrue Holiday and E'Twaun Moore picked up the slack for Davis on Wednesday by scoring 30 points apiece and backup forward Julius Randle continued his solid play with 22 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes. That marked Randle's fourth straight game with either a double-double or a triple-double and he is averaging 20.8 points and 11.3 rebounds in 27.5 minutes during that span. Moore has scored 54 points on 58.5 percent shooting over the last two games for the league's second-ranked offense (119.6 points per game).
ABOUT THE KNICKS (5-14): The fact that Wednesday's win came on the road against a somewhat desperate team and just 24 hours after a loss at home signaled, perhaps, a sign of growth for New York's growing roster. "Effort. They stuck with it. Young fellas on a back-to-back, in a hostile environment," Knicks coach David Fizdale told the media. "Just played extremely hard and played through a lot of adversity. Thank goodness that clock ran out." Trey Burke led the way with 29 points and Hardaway added 21 for New York, which is looking to produce its first winning streak of the season Friday night.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Burke is averaging 25.8 points on 58.8 percent shooting during a four-game hot stretch.
2. Pelicans PF Nikola Mirotic has nine double-doubles in his last 11 games.
3. Davis, who reached the 10,000-point milestone Wednesday, is averaging 27.3 points on 53.7 percent from the floor in 10 career games against the Knicks.