LDN - Sports

Davis's 40 points lead Pelicans over Knicks

[January 10, 2017] NEW YORK -- The World's Most Famous Arena played host to a historic performance from Anthony Davis on Monday.

Davis poured in 40 points and grabbed 18 rebounds in the New Orleans Pelicans 110-96 win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. He became the first player since David Robinson in 1995 to post those numbers at the Garden, and he did it all before leaving late in the third quarter with a hip injury.

It was the fifth time this season Davis scored at least 40 points for the Pelicans, second most to Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook, and the ninth time he recorded at least 35 points and 15 rebounds. The rest of the league has six such games combined.

Davis was 14 of 22 from the floor and 11 of 12 from the foul line. He posted at least 20 points and 14 rebounds for the ninth time in the past 10 games.

Davis' 25th double-double of the season ended when he was hurt on a hard foul from Kyle O'Quinn.

"I'm good," Davis said. "I have a bruised hip. I have a couple of days before I play again, so I'll get a lot of treatment.

"I'm being aggressive. We got a lot of good looks, so when we play like that, we are a tough team to beat. I know where we are. I know what we are trying to do as a team. We did a great job defensively, and we moved the ball offensively."

The Knicks, losers of eight of their past nine games, were without guard Derrick Rose, whom team officials would only say was "not with the team" before the game. Rose was listed in the original starting lineup but was not in the locker room before the game.

He was replaced by Brandon Jennings, who scored a team-high 20 points.

"We don't have enough information on Derrick right now to give you anything," Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said before taking questions in his postgame press conference. "We have to hear from Derrick himself.

"We expect him back. ... Everything will become clearer later on. We want to respect whatever he's going through."

Rose, one of the major offseason acquisitions for the Knicks (17-21), is averaging 17.3 points and 4.5 assists a game. He averaged 32 minutes the first two months of the season but saw his playing time decrease recently, especially in the fourth quarter.

Davis scored 18 points in the third quarter and hauled in eight rebounds before being forced to leave with 1:16 left in the period. Davis went crashing into the first row of the baseline stands after he was contacted from behind by O'Quinn, who was assessed a flagrant-2 foul and ejected.

The Pelicans said X-rays on Davis' hip came back negative, and the big man is listed as day-to-day. New Orleans travels to Brooklyn on Thursday to face the Nets in the third game of its five-game road trip, its longest of the season.

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Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis (23) controls the ball against New York Knicks center Joakim Noah (13) during the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Davis left the floor after sinking both free throws to extend the Pelicans' lead to 87-63.

Shortly before O'Quinn got ejected, Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony picked up two technicals and was ejected during a timeout for arguing a no-call after he missed a jumper at the 2:35 mark with the Pelicans ahead 82-63. Anthony finished with 18 points.

A jumper from Davis and a 3-pointer from Dante Cunningham enabled New Orleans to take its biggest lead, 79-61, with 4:40 remaining in the third.

A fastbreak dunk following a one-handed put-back dunk from Davis pushed the Pelicans' lead to 70-58 with 7:13 left in the third.

New Orleans (15-24) connected on 10 of its 15 3-point attempts in the first half en route to a 60-51 lead.

Davis picked up the double-double with his 10th rebound at the 2:23 mark of the second. He poured in 22 points in the half.

New York center Joakim Noah had a difficult time containing Davis, picking up his third foul with 4:16 left in the second quarter. Davis sank two free throws to provide New Orleans with a 50-41 edge.

NOTES: Pelicans F Anthony Davis reached double figures in scoring in the first quarter for the 18th time this season. He had the first 40-point game by a Knicks opponent at Madison Square Garden this season. Kevin Durant had the most recent one, for Oklahoma City last Jan. 26. ... Davis also became the first player since 1973 to score 40 points, grab 18 rebounds and block three shots in less than 30 minutes. ... The Knicks were without F Mindaugas Kuzminskas (illness). ... Pelicans G Langston Galloway was with the Knicks the previous two seasons. ... Knicks G Justin Holiday is the older brother of Pelicans G Jrue Holiday. . ... New Orleans G Buddy Hield began the day ranked third in the league among rookies in scoring average at 9.1 points per game. He scored 11 points Monday.

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