Davis Pours In 41 As Pelicans Rout Short-Handed Lakers

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Anthony Davis had 41 points and 16 rebounds, helping the New Orleans Pelicans dominate the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers 105-88 on Tuesday night.

Jrue Holiday scored 22 points in his first start this season and Omer Asik had 10 points and 11 assists while New Orleans snapped a two-game skid.

The Lakers expected to be healthier with forward Julius Randle returning to the lineup following a three-game absence because of a hip injury, but about two minutes into the game, starting shooting guard Nick Young was carried off with a strained right Achilles tendon.

Lou Williams scored 16 points for the Lakers and Randle finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds, but Los Angeles was in a 20-point hole by the second quarter and never came close to recovering.

Davis didn't have any dunks, somewhat unusual for the dominant 6-foot-11 power forward, but he scored in just about every other way possible. There were turnarounds from the post, mid-range jumpers, off-balance floaters and runners as he was fouled.

When the Lakers briefly threatened to get back in the game, cutting their deficit from 28 to 19 late in the third quarter, Davis answered with a driving layup and straightaway 3 to quickly push the lead back to 24 and pretty much set the tone for what remained of the game.

Davis, who also had four steals, three assists and two blocks, even dived to the floor to fight for a loose ball with New Orleans up by 24 in the third quarter, tying up Luol Deng for a jump ball.

Davis fueled New Orleans fast start with 13 points in the first quarter. His layup gave the Pelicans a 31-15 lead just over 10 minutes into the game.

TIP-INS

Lakers: A team spokesman said Young is expected to have an MRI on Wednesday. ... Williams leads the Lakers in scoring despite coming off the bench in 14 of 19 games. ... Los Angeles, which entered sixth in the NBA in scoring, fell about 20 points off its average of 108.2 points per game. ... Timofey Mozgov had 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.

Pelicans: Forward Anthony Brown played nearly 22 minutes against the Lakers, who had cut him at the end of training camp. Lakers coach Luke Walton said before the game that he views Brown as an NBA player but didn't have room for him on the roster because he wanted to maintain more of a veteran presence in the locker room, opting to retain Metta World Peace instead. Brown finished with seven points, six rebounds and two assists. He attempted only five shots, hitting three, including a 3-pointer.

UP NEXT

Lakers: Visit Chicago on Wednesday night.

Pelicans: Host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.