Davis drops 43, but Hawks keep Pelicans winless with 6th straight win
NEW ORLEANS — When Atlanta started to look vulnerable, Kyle Korver galvanized the Hawks with his deeds and words.
Korver scored 22 points, hitting all eight of his shots, including four from 3-point range, and the Atlanta Hawks won their sixth straight, 121-115 over the winless New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night.
Korver's final basket, a straight-on 3 with 3:26 to go, broke a 108-all tie shortly after the Pelicans had erased a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit. Korver then picked off Jrue Holiday's pass and quickly got the ball to Jeff Teague for an end-to-end layup, and Atlanta (6-1) led the rest of the way while improving to 4-0 on the road.
Hawks forward Al Horford, who had 14 points, credited Korver for the leadership he displayed after the Pelicans had come back.
"Kyle just told us, 'Hey, we've worked really hard in this game. We have to stay strong and finish the game out,'" Horford recalled. "As soon as he said that, we came out and got on a little run."
Anthony Davis tied a career high with 43 points to go with 10 rebounds and four steals, but injury-decimated New Orleans dropped to 0-5 under new coach Alvin Gentry.
"We are playing catch-up and not playing to win," Gentry said. "We have to start faster and play with more urgency throughout the game."
Paul Millsap scored 22 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Atlanta, which had six players score in double figures, shot 53.2 percent and led by double digits for much of the game. Teague scored 19 points, Dennis Schroder 15 and Kent Bazemore 10 for the Hawks.
Eric Gordon scored 22 and Ish Smith had a career-high 11 assists for New Orleans.
Luke Babbitt had 13 points for the Pelicans, but missed five of the six 3s he attempted. New Orleans went 10 of 30 from 3-point range as a team, while the Hawks were 9 of 21.
FINDING HIS RANGE
Korver hadn't been pleased with his shooting lately, particularly his 5 of 20 from 3-point range entering Friday night's game.
"I've had a really tough start to the season," Korver said. "Usually, when you're in a shooting slump, you get a good one when you break out of it. I don't know. I got some good looks tonight, had a really good rhythm. I felt good before the game."
HOLDING ON
Atlanta led by 12 after Justin Holiday's alley-oop dunk with 7:45 left. But New Orleans responded with a 16-4 run during which Davis scored 10, including a 3 from the left wing.
"Some unfortunate events happened, but we stayed together and gave ourselves a chance," Davis said.
Ryan Anderson, who had 10 points, capped the run with a put-back dunk that rattled the backboard as the riled-up crowd seemed to shake the arena.
A first victory seemed within New Orleans' grasp until Korver helped the Hawks regain control.
"We just kept scoring, luckily," Korver said. "We were great offensively tonight."
MOMENTUM SHIFT
New Orleans had a solid start in its third home game this season, leading 30-26 early in the second quarter. But Atlanta responded with a 17-4 run that began with Horford's dunk and included five points by Korver, including his first 3. Justin Holiday capped the spurt with a layup on a back-door cut.
The Hawks led by as many as 13 in the second quarter and took a 58-47 lead into halftime after Horford's 19-foot jumper with 1 second on the clock.
TIP-INS
Hawks: With his second assist of the night, Teague moved ahead of Cliff Hagen for eighth on Atlanta's all-time list. Teague finished with seven assists, giving him 2,243. ... Atlanta outrebounded New Orleans, 41-32.
Pelicans: The Pelicans were without C Omer Asik (right calf strain), G Norris Cole (left ankle sprain), G Tyreke Evans (right knee), C Kendrick Perkins (right pectoral) and F Quincy Pondexter (left knee). ... The Pelicans were called for a technical foul for having six players on the court after a timeout early in the fourth quarter.
UP NEXT
Hawks: Host Washington on Saturday night.
Pelicans: Visit Dallas on Saturday night.
