Pelicans Beat Lakers 132-125 To End 8-Game Skid
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com/AP) — Anthony Davis had 28 points and 15 rebounds, Eric Gordon also scored 28 and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Los Angeles Lakers 132-125 Tuesday night to snap an eight-game losing streak.
Brian Roberts scored 10 of his 19 points for New Orleans during a 1 1/2-minute span in the fourth quarter. Tyreke Evans had 24 points and 11 assists, helping the Pelicans salvage the finale of a five-game road trip that included a 32-point loss to the Clippers on Saturday night at Staples Center.
The win ended a string of nine straight road losses to the Lakers and was only the third for New Orleans in the last 18 meetings overall -- including a 96-85 victory Nov. 8 in which Davis had a career-high 32 points.
Pau Gasol had 29 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who were attempting to match their longest winning streak of the season after beating Sacramento last Friday and Portland on Monday. The loss was their 27th in 35 games and dropped them back into sole possession of last place in the Western Conference, a half-game behind Sacramento and Utah.
Newcomer Kent Bazemore had 23 points and Jordan Farmer added 20 off the bench for Los Angeles. Xavier Henry, playing his second game after missing the previous 28 because of a bone bruise on his right knee, had 12 points in 14 minutes.
Gordon's jumper gave New Orleans a 74-53 advantage with 9:54 left in the third quarter, but the Lakers narrowed the gap to 91-85 on Ryan Kelly's 15-footer with 1:12 left in the period.
That was as close as they got until a late push.
Gasol made one of two free throws to cut New Orleans' lead to 128-125 with 18.1 seconds to go. Gordon sank two foul shots at the other end, and Bazemore missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key. Anthony Morrow hit two foul shots with 11 seconds remaining to close out the scoring.
Roberts made a 3-pointer, a 14-footer and five free throws -- three of them after getting fouled by Farmar on a 3-pointer -- to help the Pelicans open a 114-104 lead with 5:59 left. The Lakers had pulled to 97-93 on a fast-break layup by MarShon Brooks with 9 1/2 minutes to play.
Davis helped the Pelicans take a 67-51 halftime lead with 19 points. The first-time All-Star made seven of his first eight shots, one night after missing his first 10 in a 96-89 loss at Sacramento while playing with a sore left shoulder.
Gasol scored the Lakers' first 13 points and had 17 by halftime. Starting point guard Kendall Marshall played 22 scoreless minutes with 10 assists -- the fourth time in the last four games that he didn't have a point.
After the game, D'Antoni told reporters that his team had an "emotional hangover to start" following a pair of wins, and that it took until the second half to really start playing defense.
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