Pelicans (16-24), Nets (8-30)
BROOKLYN – This time playing without the injured Anthony Davis, New Orleans completed a Big Apple sweep Thursday, coming from behind to beat Brooklyn at Barclays Center. Three nights earlier, the Pelicans pounded New York in Madison Square Garden.
With Davis sidelined due to a bruised left hip he sustained Monday, the Pelicans received multiple big offensive nights, from sources familiar and otherwise. Three players deposited at least 21 points, helping compensate for the absence of an All-Star who regularly surpasses the 30-point plateau.
New Orleans trailed by six points at halftime, as well as at the end of the third quarter, but erupted for a big fourth period. The Nets led by as many as eight points in the second half, before the Pelicans mounted a comeback. Tyreke Evans was fantastic in the second half, racking up 21 of his season-high 29 points. Evans repeatedly drove into the teeth of the Brooklyn defense to draw fouls or drop in layups.
New Orleans improved to 2-1 on its season-long, five-game Eastern Conference road trip that continues on the extended holiday weekend in Chicago and Indiana.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
Brooklyn's Trevor Booker missed two straight free throws with 28 seconds left, preventing the Nets from making any dent into a 101-94 deficit. New Orleans kept the door open on the previous possession by misfiring on a pair of charity tosses, but the Nets couldn't take advantage.
