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Davis-less Pelicans close trek against Bulls

Dec 2, 2013 - 3:36 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - New Orleans Pelicans second-year forward/center Anthony Davis is off to an outstanding start this season, but will now miss some time with a non-displaced fracture in his left hand.

Davis suffered the injury during the first quarter of Sunday's 103-99 victory over the struggling New York Knicks and a timetable for his return has not been determined. Davis leads the Pelicans with 19.6 points, 10.6 rebounds and a 3.9 blocks per contest.

New Orleans will begin life without Davis Monday against the Chicago Bulls in the finale of a three-game road trip and has won two straight and five of the last seven games. In the recent win over the Knicks, Ryan Anderson poured in 31 points off the bench and made 7-of-11 3-pointers, while Tyreke Evans netted 24 points as a reserve.

"I think we just outplayed them. We had a little bit more effort and really just imposed our will on them," said Anderson.

Jrue Holiday had 11 points, nine assists and five rebounds for the Pelicans, who shot 49.4 percent and made 10-of-21 3-pointers.

After visiting the Bulls, New Orleans, which is 3-5 on the road, will return to the Big Easy for four games versus Dallas, Oklahoma City, Detroit and Memphis.

The Bulls are dealing with the loss of their star player as well with guard Derrick Rose sidelined after undergoing knee surgery. They just went 1-5 on a recent road trip and suffered a 97-93 loss at Cleveland on Saturday.

Luol Deng paced Chicago with 27 points and handed out 11 assists. Tony Snell and Taj Gibson scored 18 points apiece for a Bulls team that made 47.6 percent from the field and dropped to 2-8 on the road.

"We have to do better," Gibson said. "We learned a lot just being on the road. These guys have to play a lot harder. We're too sluggish starting games and we just have to do better -- that's the main thing."

Chicago will put its 5-0 home record on the line Monday in the opener of a four-game homestand versus the Pelicans, Heat, Pistons and Bucks.

The Bulls split two meetings with New Orleans last season and have won nine of 10 and 13 of the last 18 matchups between the teams.