Pelicans 100, Raptors 97
Luke Babbitt scored 10 of his season-high 18 points in the fourth quarter as shorthanded New Orleans rallied to knock off visiting Toronto.
Playing without All-Star forward Anthony Davis (shoulder) and top reserve Ryan Anderson (knee), the Pelicans received a big boost from their bench, as Norris Cole had 13 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and Alexis Ajinca finished with 16 points and nine rebounds. Omer Asik also tallied 14 points and had a big block in the closing seconds while Tyreke Evans had 13 points and 12 assists.
Kyle Lowry scored 22 points and Jonas Valanciunas had 17 and 14 rebounds for the Raptors, who led by as many as 18 before dropping their second straight. James Johnson collected 15 points while DeMar DeRozan chipped in 14 for Toronto.
Cole had seven of New Orleans' first 10 points to begin the fourth and later hit back-to-back hoops to cut the Raptors' lead to 91-88 with 3:13 left before Babbit nailed consecutive 3-pointers to put the Pelicans on top for the first time with 1:55 on the clock. Lowry scored four straight points to put Toronto ahead by a point, but Ajinca put the hosts up 98-97 with 50.5 seconds to go and Lowry had three misses in the final 40 seconds, including a layup blocked by Asik with 6.5 seconds left and a 3-point try at the buzzer.
Lou Williams scored the final five points of the first quarter to give Toronto a 28-17 lead and the gap grew to 18 after a 13-2 second-quarter run for the Raptors, but New Orleans fought to within 56-44 on Evans' basket in the closing seconds of the half. Ajinca scored twice in an 8-2 burst late in the third and Asik blocked Valanciunas to end the period as the Pelicans got their deficit down to seven points.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Williams had nine points on 1-of-8 shooting after sitting out Saturday's loss at Houston with a sprained ankle. ... Raptors PF Patrick Patterson was out with a knee injury. ... Babbitt also tied a season high with eight rebounds as New Orleans claimed a 48-40 advantage on the boards.