Memphis @ New Orleans preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 10, 2018 ) New Orleans 102, Memphis 105

The New Orleans Pelicans have two All-Star starters in their frontcourt but are just two games above .500 entering Saturday's home contest against the Memphis Grizzlies. Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins are hoping to get their team in position to make a strong playoff push with the season past the midway point.

Davis is headed to his fifth All-Star Game - he was named MVP last season after scoring a record 52 points - and Cousins is going to his fourth, and both understand the team's 23-21 record must improve. "We've had flashes throughout the year," Cousins told reporters. "We're still trying to find that consistency. There's still a lot of things we need to work on." Memphis is showing signs of life with three consecutive wins - its first such streak since a 3-0 start to the season - and Friday's 106-88 victory over Sacramento matched its largest winning margin (18) of the season, which also occurred against the Kings. "Our approach has to be the same. The teams that do run off with consistent wins or just win overall, they're the teams that do the same thing every single night," interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters after Friday's win. "Almost to the fact where it's boring. They continue to do the same thing and the results show. That's the team that we've got to grow to be."

TV: 7 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Memphis), FS New Orleans

ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (16-28): Rookie Dillon Brooks and journeyman Ben McLemore were the surprise heroes in Friday's victory over the Kings. Brooks scored a career-high 22 points and is averaging 19.3 on 20-of-32 shooting over his last three games, while McLemore recorded a season-best 21 for just his seventh double-digit scoring outing of the campaign. "I'm just confident in what I'm doing right now and taking good shots when I'm hot," Brooks said after the victory. "I'm just taking the ones that come to me. A lot of guys are putting confidence on my shoulder."

ABOUT THE PELICANS (23-21): When Cousins was acquired from Sacramento prior to last season's trading deadline, there were plenty of doubters when it came to whether or not the two star big men would mix well together. That hasn't been an issue as both Davis (26.7 points, 10.5 rebounds) and Cousins (25.3 points, 12.7 rebounds) have thrived together on and off the court. "The biggest question was, was it going to work? I think we just proved that it is and it can work," Davis told reporters. "We feel like we complement each other."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Grizzlies are 2-0 against the Pelicans this season and have won nine of the last 11 meetings.

2. Memphis G Tyreke Evans was just 4-for-15 against the Kings while scoring 14 points.

3. New Orleans G Jrue Holiday is averaging 25.3 points on 38-of-62 shooting over his last four games.

PREDICTION: Pelicans 109, Grizzlies 102