Houston, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Anthony Davis tallied 30 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks, and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Houston Rockets, 99-90, on Thursday.
Jrue Holiday finished with 16 points and 10 assists and played his best basketball down the stretch to help the Pelicans win their second straight game. Holiday scored half of his points and dished out three assists in the final period.
"I think there were only 20 people that thought we'd win tonight, and they were all in that locker room," said Pelicans coach Monty Williams. "We certainly feel good about the win and the way we played."
Ryan Anderson and Dante Cunningham contributed 16 and 15 points, respectively, off the bench, and Omer Asik grabbed 11 boards for New Orleans.
James Harden paced Houston with 21 points and Dwight Howard posted 17 points and 13 rebounds, his third double-double since returning to the court after missing 11 games with a knee injury.
"We didn't have any legs. We just didn't have it tonight," said Harden.
The Pelicans trailed by three heading into the fourth quarter, but Cunningham's triple on their first possession tied the game. Anderson's 3 just over three minutes in extended the lead to 77-73.
Out of a timeout, Davis took over. He blocked a Harden layup in between buckets on consecutive trips. Holiday then hit a short bank shot and after both teams failed to score over the next two minutes, Davis found Anderson underneath for a layup that pushed the lead to 10.
Holiday drove to the basket for back-to-back field goals late in the game, then stripped Harden and set up two free throws for Davis that sealed it with just under two minutes to go.
There were seven lead changes during a back-and-forth first quarter. Tarik Black's dunk from Harden late in the second tied the score at 37-37, but the Pelicans finished the half on a 9-2 run.
Houston guard Troy Daniels beat the third-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer that gave the visitors a 68-65 lead heading into the fourth.
Game Notes
Davis recorded his third 30-point, 10-rebound, 5-block game over the last two seasons. No other NBA player has posted those numbers in that span ... There were 18 ties and 16 lead changes ... Houston had won six straight home games against the Pelicans.
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