Pelicans 99, Knicks 91
NEW ORLEANS -- Jrue Holiday scored 10 of his team-high 22 points in the fourth quarter before taking an inadvertent elbow to the eye to lead the New Orleans Pelicans to a 99-91 victory over the new York Knicks Monday night at the Smoothie King Center.
It was the Pelicans' first victory of the season when scoring fewer than 100 points. They were an NBA-worst 0-33 entering the game when failing to break the 100-point mark.
Holiday's final basket, a 17-foot jumper, gave New Orleans (27-46) a 92-85 lead with 1:19 left, climaxing a 8-0 run. Holiday took an elbow to the face from Knicks center Robin Lopez on an inbounds play with 56 seconds left, and did not return.
The Knicks (30-45) were paced by Carmelo Anthony's 22 points, but they scored just 37 points in the second half on 13 of 44 shooting.
New Orleans led 84-77 with 5:05 left, but the Knicks regained the lead, 85-84, with eight consecutive points, six coming on a pair of 3-pointers by Jose Calderon.
Holiday then took over, sparking a 6-0 run by stealing a cross-court pass by Carmelo Anthony and turning it into a pair of free throws. Holiday followed that up with a driving layup past Lopez, and New Orleans led 90-85 with? 1:59 left.
Toney Douglas added 16 points for New Orleans, including six free throws in the final 41 seconds.
New York extended its lead to 59-49 on a neat wrap-around assist from Porzingis to Lopez that led to an easy layup. Then the Pelicans ripped off 15 consecutive points, getting 3-pointers from Holiday, Luke Babbit and Dante Cunningham to take their first lead of the game, 64-59.
New York missed 18 of 21 shots from the field (14.3 percent) in the third quarter and scored only 10 points, and New Orleans took a 68-64 lead into the final period. It was the Pelicans' best defensive quarter of the season.
The Knicks took a 54-49 halftime lead behind Lopez?s 13 points and Anthony's 11. New York shot 51.1 percent from the field, and used a 10-0 run at the end of the second quarter to erase a 45-42 deficit and take a 52-45 lead.
The Pelicans got 11 points from Alexis Ajinca and nine from Alonzo Gee.
Porzingis started the game by making his first three shots, including an 18-footer from the left baseline and a 3-pointer from the top of the key. He also stuffed Gee who had a point-blank look under the basket in the second quarter.
NOTES: Pelicans PG Jrue Holiday, who missed the previous two games with a sore small toe on his left foot, returned to the starting lineup. "He's going to give it a go tonight just to see," said New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry. "It's just that nagging thing. It's on the foot that he usually does most of the cutting and stuff." ... G Norris Cole (lower back) may not play the rest of the season. "I think you have to be smart in that situation," Gentry said. ... Knicks coach Kurt Rambis said being eliminated from playoff contention will not affect his approach to the final eight games. "Nothing changes in my mind," Rambis said. "We're still looking at this, trying to win ball games, trying to play better together, trying to improve as individuals. I want them to have that mindset that we're going to go out and try to win every ball game."