Anthony Davis: Will not play in Wednesday’s tilt

Pelicans forward Anthony Davis sat out the second half of Tuesday’s 120-105 win over the Dallas Mavericks with what the team called a bruised right hip. Davis helped the Pelicans build an 18-point halftime lead that never dipped below 14 points en route to the team’s first win of the season.

Charlie Villaneuva added 15 points, Zaza Pachulia 12, Justin Anderson 11 and Dwight Powell and J.J. Barea 10 apiece for Dallas, who trailed 58-40 after two quarters and by as many as 28 in the second half.

“He wasn’t out there tonight, so we had to find other ways to do it”, Gentry said. I understand that every team has injuries and you’ll just have to make due with what you have, but come on, what team stands a chance missing five of their seven best players? “We don’t have time for a pity party”. Slow starts have become a problem of late for Atlanta who fell behind by as many as 12 points in the first half. We missed a few shots that we made in the first half.

Kristaps Porzingis hit what appeared to be a winning 3-pointer from 29 feet on the ensuing inbounds play, but officials huddled and ruled that he didn’t get the shot off in time. “This is a small stretch of games”. “We wanted to play fast”. We need to be better starting the game and be able to stay consistent throughout the whole game.

Atlanta tightened its transition defense in the second half and fought its way back into the game, forcing New Orleans into largely stagnant halfcourt sets. “The good news is we’ve got guys playing earlier than a lot of people expected them. Their level of force was higher without question”.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 18 points to lead Mavericks, who have lost three of their past four games. Six players scored in double digits.

The game also marked the return of point guard Jrue Holiday and center Omer Asik from injury. He posted 9.8 boards per game last season and averaged 11.7 a night in 2012-13 when he played heavier minutes for the Houston Rockets.

First of all, I want to offer my honest thanks and gratitude to whoever can honestly say they said none of the following things through the first couple weeks of this season. I just got into a good rhythm. He is one of the brightest young stars in the National Basketball Association as a walking double-double, stout rim protector and the anchor of the Pelicans’ offensive and defensive game plans. Sure, New Orleans ran out of gas at the end, however their fight in this game that was already seen as a loss by many is a really encouraging sign going forward.

The Pelican reserves gave Atlanta all they could handle, but ultimately couldn’t keep a healthier Hawks team at bay.