NEW ORLEANS _ Jeff Hornacek was worried about how his team would handle Anthony Davis, but it turned out he should have been worried about their overall performance.
The Knicks played poorly on both ends of the floor Friday night. They were sloppy with the ball, took bad shots and were slow defensively. They looked frustrated at times and as if they couldn't be bothered at other times in a 104-92 loss to the Pelicans.
The fight the Knicks showed in their overtime loss in Atlanta Wednesday night was nowhere to be found as they took their third straight loss and sixth in the last eight games. The Knicks (16-16) close out the three-game trip and 2016 on Saturday night in Houston against the high-scoring Rockets.
Carmelo Anthony, who was thrown out in the second quarter for forearming the Hawks' Thabo Sefolosha in the face on Wednesday night, led the Knicks with 26 points and 13 rebounds. But he shot 8-for-22 overall and was 4-for-14 in the second half. Anthony also committed four turnovers.
Kristaps Porzingis shot 8-for-20 and had 21 points and 12 rebounds. Derrick Rose added 20 points and shot 9-for-21. No other Knick scored in double figures.
The Pelicans (14-21) had much more balance. Davis led them with 23 points and 18 rebounds, and five other Pelicans scored at least 10. Tyreke Evans had 16 off the bench, Jrue Holiday, Buddy Hield and E'Twaun Moore added 12 each and Solomon Hill had 10.
Davis was a handful for the Knicks, just as he is for most teams. Hornacek tried different players on him. Joakim Noah started out on him but struggled. Porzingis got a shot. Then it was back to Noah at the start of the third quarter, but Hornacek pulled him 3:17 into the quarter and went with rookie Willy Hernangomez. Noah didn't seem happy about being removed so quickly.
Hornacek was looking for something with the Knicks struggling on both ends of the floor in the third quarter. That's when things appeared to unravel for the Knicks, who were down 55-51 at the half.
The Knicks scored only 18 points in the third quarter and trailed by 10 heading to the fourth. They had as many turnovers as field goals in the third _ six.
The fourth quarter didn't bring that much of a change, either. Porzingis missed a wild step-back shot badly on the first possession and Brandon Jennings had his breakaway layup roll off the rim two trips later. Two possessions after that, Jennings lost the ball out of bounds on a drive toward the basket.
The Pelicans took a 91-75 lead with 7:45 left. on a three-pointer by former Knick Langston Galloway. The Knicks didn't get their deficit to single digits until Porzingis' three-point play with 2:37 left made it 99-90.
The Knicks couldn't get the stop they needed on the next possession. Davis missed but the rebound was tapped out and Dante Cunningham buried a 3-pointer to give New Orleans a 102-90 lead with 1:59 left.
Davis gave the Knicks trouble right from the beginning. He scored 11 points on six shots in the first quarter, helping New Orleans to a 31-21 lead.
The Pelicans extended to 46-34 with Davis on the bench in the second quarter, but the Knicks charged back with a 17-2 run. They scored 11 unanswered points after Davis returned and went ahead 51-48 on Jennings' 3-pointer with 1:38 left in the half, but the Pelicans scored the final seven points of the half.
Anthony, Porzingis and Rose did most of the heavy lifting offensively in the first half, totaling 36 points. They scored 13, 12 and 11, respectively.
Anthony opened the scoring in the third quarter, but the Knicks missed their next 12 shots. The Pelicans scored 13 straight points in that time to open a 68-53 lead.
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