New Orleans Pelicans face off with Golden State in road encounter

Ryan Anderson drives in Sunday's 102-93 road loss to the Denver Nuggets. Photo by  Bart Young/NBAE/Getty Images

 The New Orleans Pelicans playing .500 basketball at 11-11 trail the San Antonio Spurs by seven
games in the Southwest Division. The Pels return to the court tonight on the road going against the 13-12 Golden State Warriors. The Pelicans are coming off Sunday's 102-93 road loss to the Denver Nuggets. The Pelicans wasted a 26-point effort by Ryan Anderson and a season-high 17 points by back-up guard Austin Rivers filling in for Tyreke Evans, who is out with an ankle sprain. Jrue Holiday added 12 points with seven assists in the loss, while Eric Gordon contributed 10 points and six assists. Anderson is leading the Pelicans, averaging 21.8 points per game and continues his outstanding shooting from behind the 3-point arc. Anderson has connected on 45-of-102 three-point attempts.

New Orleans Pelicans downed by Dallas Mavericks

New Orleans Pelicans' player Al-Faroug Aminu (0) battles with Dallas forward Dirk Nowitski for a loose ball in Wednesday night's 100-97 loss to the Mavericks in the Arena. Aminu registered a quality double-double with 16 points and 20 rebounds. Photos by David Grunfeld,Nola.com/The Times Picayune.

Pelicans' point guard Jrue Holiday (11) pushes the ball up court being tracked by the Mavericks' Gal Mekel (33) and Samuel Dalembert (1) during Wednesday's contest. Holiday netted 26 points with nine assists.

The New Orleans Pelicans dropped a close one last night in the Arena being edged by the Dallas Mavericks 100-97 as a final 3-point attempt by Ryan Anderson bounced off the back of the rim at the the buzzer. The Pelicans wasted an outstanding double-double effort by Al-Faroug Aminu, who delivered a superb outing, collecting 16 points and 20 rebounds. Aminu also pulled down 20 rebounds in his last meeting in April with the Mavericks. Anderson, one of the leagues' top 3-point shooters, registered a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds, while Jrue Holiday delivered a solid performance with a season-high 26 points and nine assists. Holiday's fourth quarter shooting and 10 points kept the Pelicans in it down the stretch in a game which featured 19 ties and 10 lead changes. Pels' coach Monty Williams said,"Our bench didn't give us what we typically need to get from them. A lot of that's because Ryan Anderson is in the starting lineup  and that offsets a bit," Williams added. Anderson, who is starting due to the injury of Anthony Davis, who will be out 4 to 6 weeks with a fractured left hand, is in the starting five. The Pelicans' bench accounted for just 10 points on a poor shooting performance, hitting on only 2-of-17 feild goal attempts. Dallas, 12-8, got 21 points from the reliable Dirk Nowitski. The 9-9 Pelicans' three-game winning streak was snapped last night. The Pelicans return to action tomorrow night, hosting the Oklahoma City Thunder and the league's leading scorer Kevin Durant, averaging 28.3 points per contest.  

Pelicans snap three-game losing streak in rout over 76ers

The New Orleans Pelicans broke a 3-game losing streak Saturday night cruising to a 135-98 drubbing of the Philadelphia 76ers in the Arena. Ryan Anderson made his first appearance after missing the first nine games with a broken toe and made the most of it pouring in 26 points as he clicked on six 3-pointers. Anderson tallied 14 points in the first 14 minutes as the Pelicans built a 30-point first half advantage. Anthony Davis contributed 13 points, nine rebounds and a career-high eight blocks, playing less than three quarters. Point guard Jrue Holiday, who was traded by the 76ers on draft night, finished with 14 points and 12 assists
against his former team. The Pelicans, 4-6, host the Utah Jazz, Wednesday night with a 7 o'clock tip off.