Pelicans drop Cavaliers despite 41 from LeBron
The Cleveland Cavaliers dropped their second-consecutive contest on Friday to a shorthanded New Orleans Pelicans squad by a score of 119-114.
Blossoming superstar Anthony Davis bowed out early in the first quarter as he sustained a chest contusion. The Pelicans' leading man only managed eight points and one rebound before leaving the game.
However, Davis's teammates picked up the slack. Power forward Ryan Anderson came off the bench to score 30 points on 9-of-18 shooting, including sinking eight 3-pointers. Small forward Tyreke Evans also proved to be a persistent thorn in the Cavaliers' side, racking up 29 points while dishing out 10 assists.
The Cavaliers managed to cut the lead down to five with under a minute left, but small forward Luke Babbitt sunk a triple with 39 seconds left to put the game out of reach.
Cleveland was led in scoring by LeBron James, who managed 41 points, mostly as a result of being checked by the Pelicans' subpar perimeter defenders. James added five rebounds and five assists all while dealing with an ailing knee, but it wasn't enough to match the Pelicans' torrid attack. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love added 15 and 19 points apiece.
The loss for Cleveland drops their record to 13-9, while the Pelicans move back to .500 at 11-11.