Pelicans 105, Pistons 94
Anthony Davis had 27 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks as visiting New Orleans took over in the second quarter against Detroit.
Tyreke Evans, starting in place of injured point guard Jrue Holiday, added 18 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Pelicans, who owned a 47-30 rebounding edge against the fifth-best rebounding team in the NBA. Ryan Anderson added 17 points off the bench and Eric Gordon contributed 12 points and five assists for New Orleans.
The Pistons had won nine of their previous 10 but couldn’t keep up with the Pelicans as Brandon Jennings led the way with 19 points. Greg Monroe added 16 points and D.J. Augustin led the reserves with 13 points for Detroit, which has lost five straight to the Pelicans.
The Pelicans blew the game open in the second quarter, using runs of 14-0 and 19-2 with Davis taking a breather to go up 43-24 with 5:18 still left in the first half. New Orleans outrebounded the Pistons 14-2 in the quarter and shot 13-for-18 from the floor as it took a 58-36 lead into the half.
The Pelicans didn’t let up after halftime, not letting Detroit get any closer than 17 in the third quarter. The Pistons scored the final seven points of the third to get back within 17, but Quincy Pondexter nailed a 3-pointer to open the fourth for New Orleans and Detroit never drew closer than the final score.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Holiday, the team’s fourth-leading scorer (15.2) and leader in assists (7.1) and steals (1.6), is day-to-day after injuring his ankle in Monday’s loss to Boston. … Pondexter, who was acquired from the Grizzlies on Monday night, made his debut and had nine points and six rebounds in 32 minutes. … Detroit C Andre Drummond, who came in averaging 12.5 points, matched his season-low with two points on 1-for-4 shooting in 22 minutes.