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Winless Pelicans tangle with Bobcats

Nov 2, 2013 - 2:49 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The New Orleans Pelicans will try to avoid an 0-3 start when they return home Saturday to host the Charlotte Bobcats.

Still without a win under their new name, the Pelicans dropped Friday's 110-90 decision at the Orlando Magic and were outscored 63-40 in the second and third quarters. Anthony Davis was busy and finished with 26 points and 17 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass, for New Orleans.

First-year Pelican and former 76er Jrue Holiday had 17 points and five assists, while Anthony Morrow and Eric Gordon scored 14 and 12 points, respectively, in the loss. The Pelicans, who lost their opener to Indiana on Wednesday, made only 34.8 percent of their shots, but sank 6-of-12 from 3- point range. Morrow hit all four of his shots from beyond the arc.

"Obviously we didn't make shots tonight," Morrow said. "But we're not going to make shots every day, so we have to be able to defend and I think we were on our heels a lot tonight."

The Pelicans made just 18 of their 53 shots inside and will have to step it up against a Charlotte team that is just as young and spry. New Orleans is hoping newcomer Tyreke Evans can contribute and he was held scoreless in the loss to the Magic in almost 18 minutes of action.

Charlotte is coming off its first win of the season, a 90-84 home victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday. Kemba Walker, who will go head-to-head with Holiday at the point Saturday, led the Bobcats with 23 points and handed out seven assists.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist posted 15 points and Bismack Biyombo provided 11 points and 10 boards for Charlotte, a 96-83 loser to Houston on Wednesday. Also, Bobcats new head coach Steve Clifford got his first win.

"We needed that win," Walker said. "We really wanted to win against Houston, but we made too many mistakes and we corrected it today."

The Bobcats were without Ben Gordon (knee) and newcomer Al Jefferson (ankle), while the latter could miss another game. Jefferson signed a three-year deal with the team over the summer and originally suffered the injury in preseason.

Charlotte lost both meetings with New Orleans last season, three straight overall and seven of the last nine. The Bobcats are just 2-7 in their past nine trips to the Crescent City.

In an interesting twist, the Pelicans were formerly known as the Hornets, a nickname Charlotte will take back starting in 2014-15. Of course, the Hornets began in Charlotte before re-locating to the Big Easy.