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Holiday returns as Sixers welcome Pelicans

Nov 29, 2013 - 3:27 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - A familiar face will be back on the Wells Fargo Center floor when Jrue Holiday and the New Orleans Pelicans visit the Philadelphia 76ers Friday night.

Holiday, of course, was traded to the Pelicans on draft night for the rights to forward Nerlens Noel, who was taken with the sixth overall pick. Holiday was Philadelphia's lone All-Star a season ago and currently averages 14.0 points and a team-best 7.3 assists with New Orleans.

The 76ers also snagged guard Michael Carter-Williams to fill Holiday's shoes at the point and were hammered by the Pelicans, 135-98, on Nov. 16. Holiday had 14 points and dished out 12 assists in that one.

"Fortunately, today was more misses for them," Holiday said after the game. "We got a lot more stops and shared the ball really well."

New Orleans will open a three-game trip against the Sixers and will make stops in New York and Chicago. It has lost two in a row since winning three straight and sustained a 102-101 setback versus Golden State at home on Tuesday, as Eric Gordon's potential game-winning 3-point try rimmed out at the buzzer.

"You can't get a more open look than that at the end of the game," Pelicans head coach Monty Williams said. "Eric made the shot the other night and tonight he missed it. It's a cruel game."

Ryan Anderson paced the Pelicans with team highs of 21 points and 12 boards, while Holiday and Gordon netted 17 and 16 points, respectively, in defeat. Anthony Davis totaled 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Pelicans, who shot a decent 47.1 percent and fell to 5-1 when outshooting an opponent.

The Pelicans are 1-7 when the opposition scored 100-plus points.

Meanwhile, the 76ers have dropped two in a row and six of seven games, including Wednesday's 105-94 setback in Orlando.

Thaddeus Young scored 26 points off the bench in his return after a death in the family and Evan Turner finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for the Sixers, who got 23 points from Carter-Williams and shot 44.7 percent from the field. Carter-Williams leads all rookies in scoring (17.8 ppg), rebounds (5.6 rpg), assists (7.0 apg), steals (NBA-high 3.08 spg) and minutes played (36.5 mpg).

Magic bigs Nikola Vucevic and Glen Davis had 21 and 19 points, respectively, and Vucevic, a former Sixer, grabbed 16 rebounds.

"When you look at their interior bigs ... we couldn't guard them, and we had to go to schemes and different ways to get help to our bigs. It's a problem," said Sixers head coach Brett Brown. "We ended up doing a better job, but we don't want to have to live in schemes."

The Sixers, who are 2-8 since a 4-2 start, trailed 55-40 with 3:57 left in the second quarter and closed the half with a 10-0 run. However, the Magic used a 10-4 run in the fourth quarter to pull away for good.

Sixers center Spencer Hawes (knee) hasn't played since Nov. 22 at home versus Milwaukee and is questionable Friday. Hawes has recorded three straight double-doubles and nine overall this season. Guard Tony Wroten (back) last appeared in a game against the Bucks and is also listed as questionable.

Philly is the worst in the NBA in opponents' scoring (109.1 ppg) and has lost two in a row to New Orleans.