Knicks fall short to Davis, Pelicans, for their fourth straight loss

With three rookies in the starting line-up for the first time since the 1985-86 season, coach David Fizdale sent in Allonzo Trier alongisde Kevin Knox and Mitchell Robinson, against Anthony Davis’ New Orleans Pelicans. And although it looked like a visible improvement, Davis was too much for this young group, posting a season high 43 points and 17 rebounds as the Pelicans came back late in the fourth to win 129-124.

Boxscore

Led by Tim Hardaway Jr’s 30 points and 8 rebounds, the Knicks built an 18 point lead early in the second quarter and stood in front of the Pelicans until late in the game. They led by 11 in the middle of the fourth and kept a four point lead with four minutes left on the clock. And then, the home team forced an 8-1 run that put New York down by two with under 2 minutes on the clock and locked the win.

Trey Burke, who scored 24 points while shooting 10-13 off the bench after receiving little playtime in the previous games called out the team for not being able to focus and blowing out leads during the final quarter.

“A team hits a shot or two shots, we put our heads down. It’s not time to put our heads down. We got to get the ball out and go back at them while they’re celebrating.”

– Trey Burke

Emmanuel Mudiay dropped 19 points while Trier and Knox scored 11 each.

For the Pelicans, who now improved to 8-7, Jrue Holiday had 24 and Julius Randle nailed 19 off the bench.

The Knicks lose their 4th straight game and are now 4-12 taking the last place in the Atlantic Division and owning the third worst record in the Eastern Conference, ahead of the Cavs and the Hawks.