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Postgame recap: Pelicans 96, Pacers 92

Pelicans (42-30), Pacers (41-31)

Relatively quiet for much of Wednesday’s game, especially by his lofty standards, Anthony Davis delivered in crunch time for New Orleans. After a sluggish start by sidekick Jrue Holiday, the guard also came through in the fourth quarter. As a result, the Pelicans pulled out a third straight win on their home floor, including improving to 2-0 during this rare mid-week stretch of three games on three consecutive nights.

New Orleans won the fourth quarter 29-23, allowing the hosts to overcome a two-point deficit heading into the final 12 minutes. It was a tight affair throughout, with neither side leading by more than six points.

Davis dropped in 13 points in the fourth quarter alone, after he was “held” to 15 in the initial three periods. The five-time All-Star was 4/6 from the field in the fourth, as well as 5/5 at the foul line. Meanwhile, Holiday – who sat out Tuesday’s game vs. Dallas due to illness – only totaled 10 points Wednesday, but six of those came in the final quarter. He sank two big baskets early in the stanza, the start of a momentum change in New Orleans’ favor.

In the final minute, Davis scored a pair of back-breaking buckets, first sinking a fadeaway baseline jumper with 53 seconds remaining, putting New Orleans in front 91-87. With 15 seconds to go, he made it 93-87 by grabbing a Holiday free throw miss and putting it back in the hoop. That was the second time this season that he pulled down a key offensive rebound off a free throw vs. Indiana, leading the Pelicans to a 2-0 sweep of a quality Eastern Conference squad.

IT WAS OVER WHEN…

Holiday knocked down the clinching free throw with 2.1 seconds left, giving New Orleans a four-point margin. He had missed his previous three attempts with chances to put Indiana away, but made one that essentially ended any Pacer hopes.

PELICANS PLAYER OF THE GAME

While Davis and Holiday were particularly key in the fourth quarter, E’Twaun Moore was consistently productive all night, continuing his three-game stretch of excellent shooting and scoring. Moore totaled 23 points on 10/15 shooting from the field, going 3/4 from the three-point arc. It was his highest-scoring game since he supplied 26 points in a win at Oklahoma City on Feb. 2. Over the course of the three-game win streak vs. Boston, Dallas and Indiana, Moore is now 8/13 on three-pointers.

QUOTES TO NOTE

“I thought both teams played extremely well defensively. I thought we did a great job (on defense). (The Pacers) are a really, really tough team to play. They are very handsy, very physical. I thought Jrue, Ian (Clark) and E’Twaun did a really good job on (Victor Oladipo).” – Alvin Gentry commenting on a low-scoring game, which featured Indiana’s All-Star guard shooting 7/16 from the field and committing four turnovers in a 21-point outing

“AD bailed us out on a couple shots. I thought we found a way to come up with a few baskets here and there, and that was the difference in the game.” – Gentry on the tight nature of Wednesday’s win

 “Being tough and making some good plays. Thank you again, Anthony.” – Holiday on what Wednesday’s outcome came down to, while also extended thanks to Davis

“He’s taken over many games this year, down the stretch in the last three to five minutes. Just being able to be that go-to guy, being able to get a basket, rebound, blocked shot. He does it in multiple ways.” – Holiday on Davis’ knack for being a difference-maker in fourth quarters and overtimes this season

“In the back-to-back, a couple players got a little bit tired, but that’s what I do every single night, bringing the energy. That’s why I was playing so hard, getting rebounds, playing defense. Every game matters to us. Every game counts.” – Cheick Diallo (nine points, 10 rebounds in 20 minutes)

BY THE NUMBERS

20: Pelicans turnovers. That the first time since Jan. 14 at New York (19 turnovers) that New Orleans has committed 17 or more turnovers in a game.

2/4: Nikola Mirotic three-point shooting in the fourth quarter. He began the night 0/7 on treys, but sank two critical bombs in crunch time.

33-29: New Orleans edge in bench scoring, led by 15 from Mirotic. The contributions from the second unit are allowing Gentry to keep starters minutes reasonable during this hectic stretch of schedule. Davis logged 35 minutes, while Holiday played 33.