Pelicans Fall Just Short Vs Rockets, Davis Suffers Concussion

Jrue Holiday heaved a 35 foot 3 point attempt that didn't draw iron in the closing seconds of Monday night's game against the Houston Rockets, a tough ending to a hard fought game for the New Orleans Pelicans.

Houston, led by 35 points from James Harden, clipped New Orleans 112-111.

Without a timeout, New Orleans elected not to foul the Rockets as they milked the game clock down, which had only 4 more seconds than their shot clock. Even with a Harden air ball, the Pelicans had to drive the length of the floor to get a semi-decent look, something Holiday didn't get.

On a positive note, Holiday played outstanding, finishing with a season-high 35 points, 9 assists and 6 rebounds, putting the team on his back after star Anthony Davis left the game in the 2nd quarter with a concussion.

Davis suffered the concussion after inadvertently colliding with the elbow of teammate Tyreke Evans when both went up for a rebound. After failing the concussion protocol test, Davis was ruled out. His immediate status for Thursday's game against the Kings us currently unknown.

"I've told our guys this many times," explained Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry. "We can't worry about whose not there. We can only worry about who is there....I felt like everybody helped put us in a situation where we had an opportunity to win the game...there was two or three plays we couldn't quite make."

Houston was red shoot from beyond the arc, hitting 19 three-pointers on the night. The Rockets scored 35 in the third quarter, going on an 18-0 run at one point, but the Pelicans never threw in the towel.

"At the end of the day, I thought we played as hard as we possibly could," said Gentry. "You've got to give credit. They made big shots when they had to."

New Orleans is a strong free throw shooting squad, but picked the wrong night to struggle from the charity stripe. In a 1 point defeat, the Pelicans went 14-25 from the foul line.

"We're one of the best free throw shooting teams in the league," said Gentry. "For some reason, we got to the line and just didn't knock them down tonight...that was definitely a factor. That's not something we would (normally) do in any game."

Evans was limited to only 16 minutes in the game, suffering from knee soreness. He'll likely get an MRI tomorrow, according to the team.

Ryan Anderson finished with 22 points. Toney Douglas added 18.

Next up, New Orleans (16-28) hosts Sacramento (20-23), who currently sits in 8th place in the Western Conference. Tip-off on Thursday is set for 7:00.