Anthony Davis had 31 points and 14 rebounds and the visiting Los Angeles Lakers won their fifth straight game on Saturday night, beating the New Orleans Pelicans 104-99.

LeBron James failed to extend his career-best streak of four consecutive triple-doubles, but he had 21 points, including consecutive clutch 3-pointers in the final two minutes. Rookie Dalton Knecht scored 27 and Austin Reaves added 10.

Brandon Ingram scored 32, Jaylen Nowell had 16 off the bench, Brandon Boston Jr. had 12 and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl 10 for the Pelicans.

With the Pelicans up 10 at halftime, Davis scored the Lakers’ first five points of the third quarter and Knecht added consecutive 3-pointers during an 11-2 run that brought Los Angeles within 58-57.

The Pelicans rebuilt the lead to six points before Knecht and Davis each scored five points to help the Lakers take a 67-63 lead.

Ingram made a field goal, but Davis scored five points and D’Angelo Russell had a three-pointer to help Los Angeles maintain a 75–71 lead late in the third quarter.

The Lakers scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to push the lead to 10 before Trey Jemison III made a layup at 9:40 for the Pelicans’ first points of the period. That sparked a 9-0 run that cut the lead to one point.

New Orleans came within a point two more times before Robinson-Earl’s three-pointer tied the score at 87. The score was tied two more times before James and Knecht made consecutive layups, but Boston and Ingram made consecutive three-pointers to tie the game. Pelicans an edge. 97-95 lead.

James answered with consecutive three-pointers to give Los Angeles a 101-97 lead with 37 seconds left.

New Orleans missed a chance to attempt a tying three-pointer with 1.3 seconds left when Robinson-Earl turned the ball over on an inbounds pass and Knecht added two free throws.

The Pelicans used an 11-0 run to take a 20-9 lead and led 30-21 at the end of the first quarter.

Nowell scored nine points and helped New Orleans build a 15-point lead twice – the second time at 53-38. James scored six points during the final 3:13 and Los Angeles pulled within 56-46 at halftime.

–Field-level media