LOS ANGELES _ When facing a team with a talented big man, the Los Angeles Lakers have often struggled to stop him.
On Sunday they faced a team with two.
On the strength of DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis, the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Lakers, 105-97.
Cousins scored 26 points with 15 rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter, while Davis scored 31 points and made 11 of 17 free throw attempts. With the loss, the Lakers maintained the worst record in the Western Conference, at 19-44. The Pelicans improved on their record, the third worst in the West, and are now 25-38.
The Lakers made a furious rally late in the fourth quarter. It started with a stifling defensive possession by Developmental League call-up David Nwaba, which led to Nick Young scoring on a fast-break layup. Point guard D'Angelo Russell followed with his first two made three-pointers of the game, to bring the Lakers within 1. Russell made two of 11 three-pointers in the game.
Julius Randle tied the game at 97 with a free throw, but that would be as close as the Lakers could get.
New Orleans scored six unanswered points to seal their win.
The first and fourth quarters were encouraging for the Lakers.
While Lakers rookie Brandon Ingram didn't take a shot until the fourth quarter against the Celtics on Friday, he scored the Lakers first points on Sunday. He made a three-pointer to start the game.
Ingram was aggressive offensively and made seven of 13 shots, for 16 points. He reached double figures for the first time in three games.
Ingram wasn't alone in his strong start. Shooting guard Young made five of eight first-half shots and scored all of his 19 points then. Center Timofey Mozgov, who has only played in one other game since being removed from the starting lineup Feb. 6, made all three of his first-half shot attempts.
The Lakers outscored the Pelicans by 10 points in the second quarter.
The Pelicans built their lead in the third quarter, when the Lakers went cold and only made five of 22 shot attempts. Only three Lakers scored during that period _ Ingram with seven, Tarik Black with three and Jordan Clarkson with four.
While Los Angeles entered halftime with a four-point lead, they started the fourth quarter down 10.
