The New Orleans Pelicans (21 - 21) defeated the Los Angeles Lakers (12 - 31) 96 - 80 on Wednesday at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. While this game was very close at the half, the Pelicans went off in the second half, out - scoring the Lakers 53 - 36 to take the 16 - point victory in front of their home crowd Wednesday. The Pelicans shot much better in this game, going 46 percent from the field, while the Lakers went just 36 percent. The Pelicans also out - rebounded the Lakers 45 - 41, giving them even more of an advantage. After missing three games with a sprained toe, Anthony Davis returned to the starting lineup and found himself having a very big game. He led all scorers in this matchup, finishing with 29 points (11 - 18 FG, 7 - 8 FT), eight rebounds, three steals and four blocked shots in 36 minutes. In the three games he's played the Lakers this year, he's now averaging an impressive 26 points per game against them. With Jrue Holiday out for likely the next two - to - four weeks, Tyreke Evans continued to take his spot in the starting lineup. Coming into this game, Evans had averaged 19 points and 6 assists during the four games that Holiday had missed. He only added to those totals Wednesday, finishing with 19 points (8 - 19 FG, 1 - 4 3Pt, 2 - 3 FT) and four assists. Notching his first double - double of the season, Eric Gordon recorded 17 points (7 - 13 FG, 1 - 4 3Pt, 2 - 2 FT) and 10 assists. He was finding his teammates at a very high rate all night. The only other Pelican to reach double figures in points was Quincy Pondexter, who scored 12 points (4 - 10 FG, 0 - 3 3Pt, 4 - 4 FT) in 26 minutes off the bench. Kobe Bryant returned for the Lakers Wednesday after being rested for the two previous games. He went 6 - for - 14 from the field and 1 - for - 5 from the three - point line to score 14 points, while also adding seven rebounds in 29 minutes. He's averaging just over 20 field goal attempts per game this season, so he did n't get off as many shots as he's used to. Jordan Hill notched a double - double with 15 points (7 - 14 FG, 1 - 2 FT) and 13 rebounds. It was his second over his last three games, pushing his season averages to 12 points and 8 rebounds per game. After not getting much more help from the other starters, the Lakers needed a little boost from their bench. Wayne Ellington was really the only one to provide any, going 3 - for - 4 from the field and 2 - for - 2 from the three - point line to score 12 points in 18 minutes. The Pelicans' next game will be on the road against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, while the Lakers will travel to San Antonio to play the Spurs on Friday.
["TeamStat(G,'Pelicans') has 46 Percentage of field goals ,has 21 Losses ,has 96 Total points ,has 45 Rebounds ,has 21 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Lakers') has 36 Percentage of field goals ,has 31 Losses ,has 80 Total points ,has 41 Rebounds ,has 12 Wins ."]