Pelicans 114, Cavaliers 108
NEW ORLEANS -- Forward Anthony Davis shook off an injury to his lower left leg to score 31 points, including six in overtime, to overcome a 23-point fourth quarter by LeBron James and lift the New Orleans Pelicans to a 114-108 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night at the Smooth King Center.
Davis added 12 rebounds and four steals as the Pelicans (5-15) snapped a four-game losing streak and recorded their fifth consecutive home victory over the Cavaliers (13-6), who dropped their second straight.
The Pelicans survived in overtime after the Cavaliers erased an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter. James exploded for 23 of his game-high 37 points in the fourth, including a go-ahead scoop layup around Davis with 30.5 seconds left.
James scored 23 of Cleveland's final 26 points in regulation to set up overtime.
In overtime, the Pelicans raced to a 111-106 lead, with Davis hitting a floater in the lane and then finishing a 6-1 run with an 8-foot hook on the baseline. James was held scoreless in overtime. Davis' 15-foot jumper with 2:12 left gave New Orleans a 113-108 lead.
The Cavaliers trailed 96-85 with 5:25 left in regulation, but they went on a 12-2 run -- with James scoring nine points -- to trim the deficit to 98-97.
James then gave the Cleveland the lead, 99-98, by blowing past center Omer Asik for a layup. After a Pelicans' turnover, James again dribbled from the top of the key past Asik for another layup, making it 101-98 with 1:15 left.
The Pelicans battled back to regain the lead, 102-101, on a Ryan Anderson tip-in and Davis' tomahawk dunk, which came off his steal and a full court scramble.
That set things up for James, who dribbled past Davis from the top of the key for the go-ahead layup, 103-102, with 30.5 seconds left. James added to two free throws to make it 105-102, but guard Jrue Holiday sent the game into overtime with a 3-pointer from the right wing with 8.0 seconds left.
New Orleans trailed 62-56 three minutes into the third quarter, but the Pelicans went on a 26-8 run over the next 6:42 to take an 82-70 lead. Gordon nailed two 3-pointers and had 10 points in the surge, and Anderson added a pair of long-range jumpers.
Davis also made a 3-pointer from the left corner as the Pelicans went 5 of 8 from behind the arc to take an 84-77 lead entering the final quarter. James missed all five of his shots in the third quarter.
The Pelicans got a scare late in the second quarter when Davis went down in a heap after appearing to roll his left foot on the shoe of Cleveland forward Kevin Love. Davis limped into the locker room with 4:08 left in the quarter but returned with 2:29 left. He led New Orleans with 12 points and five rebounds in the half.
Guard J.R. Smith shook off a recent shooting slump to connect on five 3-pointers in the first quarter as the Cavaliers took a 27-21 lead. Then, in the second quarter, Love scored 12 points as Cleveland took a 53-52 halftime lead.
James had 11 in the first half, and things got a little chippy when he shoved forward Ryan Anderson after a missed shot attempt, drawing a technical. Anderson had 10 first-half points for the Pelicans.
NOTES: The Pelicans shook up their starting lineup again, starting Tyreke Evans and Eric Gordon in the backcourt and bringing PG Jrue Holiday off the bench. "We're going to try to stay with that lineup for a little while and try to see if we can get some consistency," New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said. ... This was the first time Gentry faced LeBron James since the NBA Finals in June, when Gentry was the Warriors' lead assistant. Asked for his biggest memory of James, Gentry said: "That nobody can guard him. ... Our whole philosophy at Golden State was to see if we could take the other guys out of the game, and then you just live with what he's going to do." ... The Cavaliers had not scored 100 or more points in their previous four games. "We turned it over too much (averaging 16 turnovers) and we haven't shot it as well (39.9 percent)," Cleveland coach David Blatt said.