Pelicans Earn First Win, Davis Injures Hip

It took two weeks, but the New Orleans Pelicans (1-6) have procured their first victory of the season, dominating the Dallas Mavericks (3-4) on Tuesday night by the score of 120-105.

One glance at the box score and it would seem everything went right for New Orleans. However, superstar Anthony Davis didn't play in the second half after suffering a hip contusion when a Dallas defender's knee slammed into his side. X-rays were negative, and his status for Wednesday's game in Atlanta is yet to be determined.

Davis' injury aside, it was hands down the best performance of the season for the Pelicans who shot 50% from the field.

"We started the game the right way," said head coach Alvin Gentry. "I thought we played extremely hard. We had good ball movement, but it was our defense that set the tone for the game."

Defensively, the Pelicans finished with 9 steals, 5 blocks and 18 points off turnovers, all while holding Dallas to 44.3% shooting.

"I'm glad we won," said forward Ryan Anderson. "I think we played great defense tonight...playing at home, in this environment, we needed a win. I'm glad we did."

Anderson, the NBA leader in bench scoring, led all scorers with 25 points, chipping in 11 rebounds and 2 steals for good measure.

"Ryan did a good job of being aggresive offensively," said Gentry of Anderson. "I also thought he did a good job on the boards."

The Pelicans bench was magnificent, finishing with 71 points, 26 rebounds and 16 assists.

Davis' stat line of 17 points and 7 assists is particularly impressive considering it all came in the first half.

The same can be said for point guard Jrue Holiday, who finished with 10 points, 3 assists and 2 steals in only 15 minutes of work as he remains on a minutes restriction.

"I thought Jrue did exactly what we need him to do," noted Gentry. "I just thought he was really good running the team and putting us in certain offensive sets that we scored on."

The Pelicans will charter a flight to Atlanta tonight and prepare for a Wednesday showdown with the Hawks (7-2). Tip-off is set for 7:00.