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Davis recovers, carries Pelicans over Suns

Apr 11, 2015 - 5:01 AM New Orleans, LA (SportsNetwork.com) - Anthony Davis scored 13 of his 19 points in the final quarter, pulled down nine rebounds, and overcame a blow to the throat to power the playoff-hopeful New Orleans Pelicans to a 90-75 win over the Phoenix Suns.

Davis went up for a lob pass from point guard Jrue Holiday in the opening moments of the second quarter, but suffered a throat contusion when he was inadvertently hit by Phoenix's Earl Barron.

Davis exited immediately to the locker room and did not play the remainder of the half or the third quarter, but went 4-of-6 from the field in the fourth to seal New Orleans' sixth win in eight contests.

"I was having trouble swallowing. The doctors made sure I was okay and it was no hesitation to go back and play," Davis said.

The Pelicans are tied with Oklahoma City for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

New Orleans plays at Houston and at Minnesota before finishing the season by hosting San Antonio on April 15.

Eric Gordon and Tyreke Evans had 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Pelicans. Dante Cunningham posted 12 points and nine rebounds, Norris Cole totaled 12 points, and Omer Asik pulled down 18 rebounds.

Holiday, who played in his first game since January 12 due to a stress reaction in his lower right leg, had two points on 1-of-7 shooting, but contributed five assists.

Eric Bledsoe had 19 points and seven assists for the Suns, who have lost eight of their last nine games. Markieff Morris scored 12 to go with 11 rebounds.

The Pelicans held a six-point lead after the opening quarter and built that to as much as 11 in the second before settling for a 47-41 halftime edge.

The visitors trimmed the margin to one in the third, but found themselves down 10 at period's end thanks to six consecutive points for the Pelicans.

A layup from Davis early in the fourth and a jumper from Cunningham opened a 76-62 lead with 8:44 remaining. The Suns never cut the deficit inside double digits.

Game Notes

The Pelicans held a 56-43 rebounding cushion ... P.J. Tucker scored 12 for Phoenix, which has lost five in a row on the road ... The Pelicans were 5- of-19 from 3-point range.