Pelicans beat Knicks in OTAP
NEW YORK » Anthony Davis’ fullcourt heave after the third quarter was too late to give him points, though it gave him that unstoppable feeling great players get.
“I kind of saw it, but I mean you never really make those,” Davis said of the shot he launched from just inside the opposite baseline . “So when it in I just kind of felt like tonight was definitely my night.”
And thanks to his monster effort, it became the Pelicans’, too.
Davis scored a season-high 48 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, leading New Orleans back from 19 points down late in the third quarter to a 123-118 overtime victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday.
Jrue Holiday added 31 points, and DeMarcus Cousins had 15 points, 16 rebounds, seven steals and five assists and for the Pelicans. They were down 16 after one, even further back late in the third and still down nine with 4 ½ minutes left in regulation.
But they kept coming and Holiday had three baskets and a couple free throws in OT to help them finish it off.
“I thought we did a great job in the overtime,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. “AD was just huge for us, and when you get into those zones like that he’s really good.”
Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. each scored 25 points for the Knicks, who lost their third straight and 10th in their last 12 games. Jarrett Jack had a season-high 22 points, and Enes Kanter finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Five days after a double-overtime loss to Chicago in a game they led by 11, the Knicks coughed up another big lead in a miserable way to finish a rare January home game before they begin a seven-game, coast-to-coast trip Monday in Brooklyn that has them away for two weeks.
“I think we’ve just got to do a better job of when we’re up 12, 15 points, we’ve got to take it to another level, another notch,” Hardaway said. “We haven’t been doing that these last couple of games.”
The Knicks seemed in control late in a high-scoring third quarter, when they outscored the Pelicans 39-34. Hardaway’s jumper gave New York a 96-77 lead with 1:22 remaining in the period, but New Orleans then went on a 17-4 run to cut it 100-94 midway through the fourth.
The Pelicans then finished regulation with a 13-4 charge, tying the game on Davis’ basket with 3.5 seconds remaining. New Orleans then nearly won it, as E’Twaun Moore stole an inbounds pass and launched a 3-pointer that rimmed out at the buzzer.
Holiday put New Orleans ahead for good with 1:52 to play in OT and Davis had the next basket, making it 120-117.
The Knicks, playing the first of back-to-back after- noon starts, jumped to a 29-13 lead after one quarter.