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Gordon, Pelicans come back to beat Cavs

Nov 23, 2013 - 6:48 AM New Orleans, LA (SportsNetwork.com) - Eric Gordon drained a go-ahead 3-pointer in the final minute and the New Orleans Pelicans rallied for a 104-100 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.

Gordon and Tyreke Evans both provided 19 points for the Pelicans, who trailed by a dozen with under five minutes remaining before pulling out their third straight win.

Evans pulled down 10 rebounds as well, while Jrue Holiday and Anthony Davis also posted double-doubles in the comeback. Holiday chipped in with 15 points and 11 assists and Davis totaled 17 points and 13 rebounds.

"Definitely a great win. We needed this," Gordon said.

Kyrie Irving paced Cleveland with 22 points, Jarrett Jack netted 19 and Dion Waiters had 14 in the club's fifth loss in six games.

The Cavaliers connected on 53 percent of their shots but were outdone in almost every other statistical category. The Pelicans forced 20 turnovers, had 17 more second-chance points (25-8) and scored 23 fast-break points.

Despite making just one bucket in transition, Cleveland held a 93-81 lead with 4:46 left after Earl Clark connected from behind the arc to cap a 9-2 run.

The Pelicans, just as they did all game, responded.

Holiday and Ryan Anderson both made 3-pointers during a 14-2 surge, and Davis tipped in an Evans miss to make it a tie game, 95-95, with 1:29 on the clock.

After Irving went 1-of-2 at the foul line, he and Evans exchanged tough baskets in the lane, the former going up-and-under against Davis to give Cleveland a 98-97 edge.

At the other end, Holiday drew two defenders on a drive to the lane and kicked to an open Gordon for the deciding corner 3-pointer with 31.7 seconds to go.

Coming out of a timeout, Irving again attacked the basket, but this time Davis altered the shot, albeit with a little bit of contact, and the Pelicans sealed the outcome at the foul line.

"Whether it was a foul or not I don't know, you have to go back and watch the tape," Cavs head coach Mike Brown said of Irving's late drive.

The Cavs led by as many as 10 in the first quarter, but the Pelicans answered by scoring 15 of the final 19 points in the stanza to take a 21-20 lead.

It was Cleveland that finished off the second quarter with a flurry. Waiters hit a 3-pointer and converted a three-point play on consecutive possessions to cap his 12-point quarter, and Jack beat the halftime buzzer with a jumper to finish off a 10-2 run that gave the visitors a 51-42 cushion.

New Orleans made another push with 12 consecutive points late in the third. Anderson's 3-pointer provided a 66-64 lead for the Pelicans, but that too was short-lived until the final moments.

Game Notes

Monty Williams collected his 100th victory as Pelicans head coach ... Anderson had 13 points ... New Orleans has won five of the last six meetings.