The Sports Xchange
Nov 22, 2017
NEW ORLEANS -- Anthony Davis scored 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and DeMarcus Cousins added 24 points and 15 boards, powering the New Orleans Pelicans to a 107-90 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night at the Smoothie King Center.
New Orleans' defense held San Antonio to a total of 30 points in the second and third quarters. The Pelicans recorded their first victory this season against a team with a winning record.
Davis' 29 points moved him past Chris Paul into second place on the franchise's all-time scoring list. Davis has 7,938 points, surpassing Paul's 7,936 in his New Orleans tenure. David West (8,690) is first on New Orleans' all-time scoring list.
The Pelicans (10-8) trailed by 15 points in the first quarter, but they held the Spurs to 13 points in the second quarter and 17 in the third to open an 87-59 lead. The Pelicans outscored the Spurs by 38 points in the middle two periods.
The Spurs (11-7), who had won four of their previous five games, got 19 points from Rudy Gay, 17 from Pau Gasol and 16 from LaMarcus Aldridge.
The Spurs raced to a 17-2 lead in the first quarter when New Orleans missed 11 of its first 12 shots. A Cousins dunk ended that streak.
San Antonio led 29-19 after the first quarter, but the Pelicans held the Spurs to 27.8 percent shooting in a 13-point second quarter, and New Orleans held a 50-42 halftime lead, closing the half with a 19-4 run.
Darius Miller made 3 of 4 from long range to help New Orleans' first-half surge. Cousins had 15 points and eight rebounds in the first half, and Davis chipped in with 14 points and seven rebounds.
Davis closed the half with a dunk off a perfect alley-oop feed from Rajon Rondo. Aldridge paced the Spurs with 14 first-half points.
NOTES: Spurs coach Gregg Popovich has been asked countless times about when F Kawhi Leonard might return from a quad injury. "I keep saying sooner rather than later," he said. "It's kind of like being a politician, you know. It's all baloney. It doesn't mean anything." ... Asked about G Tony Parker, who is also out with a quad ailment, Popovich smiled and said: "I think he'll be back very soon -- real sooner than later." ... New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry is not buying into the notion that this is a post-Spurs NBA. "They've been a pain in the -- you know what I'm talking about -- for the last 15 years or so," Gentry said. "I don't ever take anybody serious when they say, 'This is it for the Spurs, they're on their way down.' Every time they say that, they end up winning 55, 60 games."