Knicks beat Pelicans, win consecutive games for first time

NEW YORK (AP) — Emmanuel Mudiay scored a season-high 27 points, rookie Alonzo Trier had a career-high 25, and the New York Knicks rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 114-109 on Friday night.

Trier made two free throws to put the Knicks ahead 104-103, and they held on to win consecutive games for the first time this season.

Enes Kanter scored 17 for the Knicks and Noah Vonleh had 14.

Anthony Davis finished with 33 points and 12 rebounds for New Orleans. Jrue Holiday scored 22 points and Nikola Mirotic added 19.

New York had trailed 101-92 midway through the final quarter.

Mudiay's steal and two free throws with 1:09 left gave the Knicks a 106-103 lead. Milotic missed a 3-point attempt and Mudiay hit a driving layup with 34 seconds to play.

The Pelicans pulled to 111-109 on Davis' uncontested dunk with 8.2 seconds left, but Mudiay hit another free throw and Tim Hardaway Jr. added two more for the final margin.

The Pelicans led by nine in the first quarter, but New York scored the first seven points of the second to take its first lead since the opening basket. The Knicks then increased their advantage to 52-45 on Mudiay's driving layup with 3:15 left.

Davis' three-point play with 3.6 seconds remaining gave the Pelicans a 60-59 lead at halftime. He had 24 points and 10 rebounds at the break.

New Orleans led 90-87 after the third quarter.

TIP-INS

Pelicans: New Orleans, which had won the last two meetings, leads the all-time series 19-17. The Pelicans had not lost to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden since November 15, 2015.

Knicks: Hardaway missed his first 11 shots before finally connecting on a 3-pointer with 7:10 remaining in the third quarter. He finished the night 2 for 15.

FOR STARTERS

No Knick player has started every game this season, while the Pelicans have two players, Holiday and E'Twaun Moore, who have been on the floor for the start of each of New Orleans' 19 games.

MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME

Five players who appeared in the game attended the University of Kentucky. Davis, Julius Randle and Darius Miller competed for New Orleans, while Kanter and Kevin Knox were on the floor for the Knicks. Kanter, who attended Kentucky as a freshman, never played for the Wildcats after being declared ineligible by the NCAA for having received impermissible benefits while playing for the Turkish club team Fenerbahce.

HAPPY HOLIDAY

Holiday, who has reached double figures in all but one game this season, is averaging a career-high 20.1 ppg. Now in his sixth year with the Pelicans, the 10-year veteran averaged 19 last season.

UP NEXT

Pelicans: Visit Washington on Saturday.

Knicks: Visit Memphis on Sunday.