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Davis leads Pelicans past Hornets

Nov 5, 2014 - 6:42 AM New Orleans, LA (SportsNetwork.com) - Anthony Davis gave a salute after throwing down Jrue Holiday's alley-oop pass with a monstrous one-handed slam in the third quarter.

It was an exclamation point on a dominant frame from the blossoming third-year star.

Davis had 12 of his 24 points in the third and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Charlotte Hornets 100-91 on Tuesday night.

The Kentucky product also added 13 rebounds and three blocks for the Pelicans, who had dropped their previous two games. Holiday posted 16 points and nine assists, Tyreke Evans supplied 16 points and 10 rebounds and Omer Asik added 10 points and 11 boards in the triumph.

"Big win for us. Our defense was really good tonight," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said.

The Pelicans used to own the Hornets moniker. They spent 14 seasons in Charlotte before relocating to New Orleans in 2002 and changed their name to the Pelicans last season.

Gary Neal netted 21 points off the bench and Al Jefferson provided 20 for Charlotte, which has lost three in a row.

"We didn't keep playing, keep competing for every possession," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said.

Charlotte returned to the NBA with the Bobcats in 2004 and the team was renamed last summer.

The Hornets led 48-47 at the break, but New Orleans outscored Charlotte 24-8 to start the third and never looked back.

Davis scored all 12 of his points during the burst, with his thunderous dunk punctuating it and staking the Pelicans to a 71-56 advantage late in the period.

New Orleans took a 73-65 spread into the final frame and Charlotte never cut the gap to less than eight the rest of the way.

The Pelicans held a 26-21 lead after a quarter of play.

Game Notes

New Orleans knocked down all 19 of its free throws and outrebounded Charlotte 47-34 ... Ryan Anderson scored 16 points off the bench for New Orleans ... Charlotte scored 20 points off 13 Pelicans turnovers.