Davis's 40 points lead Pelicans over Knicks
NEW YORK -- Anthony Davis poured in 40 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and blocked three shots to lead the New Orleans Pelicans to a 110-96 win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
It was the fifth time this season Davis scored at least 40 points for the Pelicans (15-24), second most to Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, and his 25th double-double. Davis was forced to leave the game late in the third quarter with a hip injury he suffered after a hard foul from Kyle O'Quinn.
The Knicks (17-21), losers of eight of their last nine games, were without guard Derrick Rose, who team officials would only say was "not with the team." Rose was listed in the starting lineup, but was not in the locker room before the game. He was replaced by Brandon Jennings, who scored 20 points.
Davis scored 18 points in the third and hauled in eight rebounds before being forced to leave with 1:16 left in the quarter. Davis went crashing into the first row of the baseline stands after he was contacted from behind by O'Quinn, who was assessed a flagrant 2 foul and ejected.
He left the floor after sinking both free throws to extend the Pelicans lead to 87-63.
Shortly before O'Quinn got ejected, Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony picked up two technical and was ejected during a timeout for arguing a no-call after he missed a jumper at the 2:35 mark and the Pelicans ahead 82-63. Anthony finished with 18 points.
A jumper from Davis and a 3-pointer from Dante Cunningham enabled New Orleans to take its biggest lead, 79-61, with 4:40 remaining in the third.
A fast break dunk following a one-handed put-back dunk from Davis pushed the Pelicans lead to 70-58 with 7:13 left in the third.
New Orleans connected on 10 of its 15 3-point attempts in the first half en route to a 60-51 lead.
Davis picked up the double-double with his 10th rebound at the 2:23 mark of the second. He poured in 22 points in the half.
New York center Joakim Noah had a difficult time containing Davis, picking up his third foul with 4:16 left in the second quarter. Davis sank two free throws to provide New Orleans with a 50-41 edge.
Davis dropped in 14 points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked a shot to help the Pelicans to a 29-26 first quarter lead.
NOTES: The Knicks were without F Mindaugas Kuzminskas (illness). ... Pelicans G Langston Galloway was with the Knicks the previous two seasons. ... Knicks G Justin Holiday is the older brother of Pelicans G Jrue Holiday. . ... New Orleans G Buddy Hield began the day ranked third in the league among rookies in scoring average at 9.1 points per game. ... Pelicans F Anthony Davis entered play ranked second in the league in points per game (28.8), sixth in rebounding (12.1 per game) and second in blocked shots (2.5 per game).