NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Pelicans were hoping Jrue Holiday would find forward Anthony Davis open with less than five seconds for a potential winning shot.
Instead, Holiday dribbled to the right in front of the New Orleans bench and hit a 15-footer with 1.3 seconds to play, handing the Pelicans a 105-103 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night.
"After it left my hands I thought it was good," Holiday said.
And yet it almost wasn’t the shot of the night.
Brooklyn’s Joe Johnson took the inbounds pass and heaved a one-handed, 41-foot shot that nearly went in at the buzzer.
"I think it was on line all the way," Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. "That’s why I grabbed my head. When it left his hand it was tracking right at the basket. It really was."
New Orleans won for the fifth time in six games and finished January with a winning record, its first winning month this season.
Holiday finished with 26 points and seven assists. Davis started the game 0-for-10 shooting but finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Ryan Anderson added 24 points for New Orleans.
"When Jrue has the ball and I’m diving and Ryan is popping, you’ve got to pick your poison," Davis said. "Jrue did a great job of making reads and hitting the right guys."
Brooklyn had answers for every first-half run by New Orleans and took a 51-44 lead into halftime. The Nets shot 52 per cent in the first 24 minutes and led despite forcing only one turnover.
And after scoring just 15 third-quarter points, the Nets erupted for 37 in the final 12 minutes.
New Orleans led 100-98 with with 49 seconds to play after Holiday hit two free throws. Brook Lopez, who finished with 33 points, tied the game on a dunk 17 seconds later.
Holiday followed up a timeout with what looked like it would be a game-winning 3-pointer with 9.3 seconds left. But the Nets answered with Johnson’s 3, leaving 6.9 seconds to play.
That’s when Holiday scored.
"I mean falling back and it almost looked like a prayer," Nets coach Tony Brown said. "Hey, he made a tough shot. I thought defensively we tried to make it as tough as possible. And tip your hat to him, he made a great shot."
TIP-INS
Nets: Brooklyn is now 2-7 in the second game of back-to-backs. . The Nets finished the month of January 3-13. … For just the second time this month, Brooklyn hit at least six 3-pointers in a game, finishing with nine Saturday night.
Pelicans: New Orleans finished the game with 11 3-pointers and has made at least 10 in seven consecutive games. …The Pelicans had fewer than 10 turnovers for the 13th time this season and are now 8-5 in those games.
NETS BENCH BREAKS OUT
A night after Brooklyn’s bench scored just two points on one fourth-quarter basket, they got back on track against the Pelicans. Shane Larkin and Thomas Robinson combined for 15 second-quarter points and the bench finished with 24. The big night came after Brown said he spoke to the reserves about playing better when they’re in the game.
ANDERSON, AGAIN
Anderson continues to give his team a lift off the bench. He scored at least 21 points for the fourth straight game, three times coming as a reserve. He scored 11 second-half points, including going 3-of-4 from 3-point range.
UP NEXT
Nets: Host Detroit on Monday.
Pelicans: Host Memphis on Monday.
