Pelicans at Cavaliers
Among the many issues dogging the New Orleans Pelicans this season has been an inability to finish games on the road. They carry a six-game road losing streak into the second of two straight games away from home Saturday night at the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Five of the six consecutive road defeats have come by single digits, including Wednesday's 126-121 setback at Brooklyn in which the Nets scored 73 first-half points and held off a New Orleans rally. "We got behind and you're playing uphill," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry told the media. "We know this story. We've seen this story before." New Orleans should have a chance to get a rare road win against a Cavaliers squad that has lost eight in a row and will be playing the second half of a back-to-back. Six of the eight straight setbacks have been by double digits, including the 117-91 home loss to Utah on Friday.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS New Orleans, FS Ohio (Cleveland)
ABOUT THE PELICANS (17-22): Superstar forward Anthony Davis returned from a one-game layoff due to an illness to score 34 points and grab a career-high 26 rebounds at Brooklyn, and the 25-year-old is beginning to feel the weight of his team's current 7-15 slide. "We're a better team than our record shows. Everyone is frustrated," he told reporters Wednesday. "Players, coaches, front office. We've just got to do better." That was the first game this month for Davis after he averaged 29.6 points on 52.3 percent shooting while hauling in 13.4 rebounds in 14 December games.
ABOUT THE CAVALIERS (8-31): Cleveland has shot under 40 percent from the field in three of its last five games after posting a 39 percent mark in the loss to the Jazz. Alec Burks had a team-high 17 points while center Tristan Thompson had eight points and 12 rebounds in his second game back following a 10-game layoff due to a foot sprain. Guard Patrick McCaw, signed last week to a two-year offer sheet, has made two of his seven shots while recording two assists and three turnovers in 36 minutes over his first two games with the team.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pelicans PG Elfrid Payton had 25 points and seven assists Wednesday in his second game since returning from a 22-game layoff due to a broken finger.
2. Cavaliers PG Collin Sexton is 5-for-8 from 3-point range over his last two games and 3-for-20 inside the arc.
3. The teams split last season's two-game series and finish this one Wednesday in New Orleans.