Nets post 126-121 victory over Pelicans

D'Angelo Russell collected 22 points and 13 assists as the Brooklyn Nets held on for a 126-121 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night in New York. Russell returned from getting a rest in Saturday in the Nets' 14-point loss at Milwaukee and posted his third double-double of the season. He made nine of 21 field-goal attempts as the Nets bounced back from a pair of double-digit road losses and won for the 10th time in 13 games. Joe Harris added 21 points, including three big hoops down the stretch after New Orleans turned a 24-point deficit into a five-point gap.

DeMarre Carroll added 19 while Spencer Dinwiddie contributed 18 as Brooklyn's reserves outscored the Pelicans' reserves by a 55-5 margin. New Orleans' Anthony Davis returned from being a last-minute scratch due to illness Monday and totaled 34 points and a career-high 26 rebounds. It was his ninth straight double-double. Davis had 11 points and 11 rebounds in the fourth quarter when the Pelicans outscored the Nets 34-21. Elfrid Payton added a season-high 25 points while Julius Randle contributed 21, but the Pelicans lost for the 15th time in their past 22 games since mid-November on a night.

New Orleans fell short despite shooting 52.9 percent from the floor. Brooklyn opened a 112-91 lead on a 3-pointer by Shabazz Napier with 9:54 left in the fourth but missed its next seven shots. New Orleans used a 15-1 run to get within 113-106 on a free throw by Jrue Holiday with 5:04 remaining. Consecutive hoops by Harris helped Brooklyn stem the tide and regain its double-digit lead at 117-106 with 3 1/2 minutes left. Those baskets did not close it out, as a layup by Payton about a minute later made it a 117-110 game, but Brooklyn's Jarrett Allen had a dunk and Davis missed a spin-move layup with 1:53 remaining.

Following a New Orleans basket and a Brooklyn turnover, Davis converted a put-back to make it 119-114 with 55 seconds left. On the next possession, Harris hit his biggest hoop of the night, taking a pass from Dinwiddie and rolling from the 3-point arc down the baseline for a layup to give Brooklyn a 121-114 edge. Before sweating out the finish, the Nets took the lead for good with 4:38 left in the first quarter. Brooklyn held a 73-58 lead at halftime, the Nets' highest first-half point total in a home game since Feb. 19, 2002. The Nets weathered a small New Orleans run in the third and took a 105-87 lead into the fourth before nearly blowing the game. 

(With inputs from agencies.)