Pelicans’ Anthony Davis scores 59 points in 111-106 win over Pistons

Anthony Davis scored a franchise-record 59 points and pulled down 20 rebounds as the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Detroit Pistons, 111-106, on Sunday in Auburn Hills, Mich.

The previous club record was 50 points by Jamal Mashburn exactly 13 years earlier against the Grizzlies. Davis made 24 of 34 shots, including his two three-point attempts. He added nine free throws in 10 tries.

“That was a lot of fun, because the rim looked so big that it felt like everything I shot was going to go in,” Davis said. “I wasn’t keeping track of my point total, but the guys were telling me at the timeouts. They wanted me to get 60.”

Davis had 19 points in the fourth quarter and broke the scoring record for the Palace of Auburn Hills, set by LeBron James with 48 points in an Eastern Conference finals game on June 1, 2007. The star center joined Shaquille O’Neal and Chris Webber as the only NBA players with 50 points and 20 rebounds in a game since 1983.

“That one is on me. That was terrible coaching — terrible,” Pistons Coach Stan Van Gundy said. “You’ve got to come up with something. You can’t let a guy get 59. That’s on me.”

Jrue Holiday came off the bench and scored 20 points for the Pelicans — the only other player to reach double figures for New Orleans. Reggie Jackson led the Pistons with 34 points.

The short-handed Pistons lost another key player early on when Anthony Tolliver limped off the floor after banging knees with Andre Drummond. Tolliver didn’t return, so Marcus Morris shifted to power forward with Tobias Harris playing small forward in his second game with Detroit.

Cleveland 115, at Oklahoma City 92: Kevin Love scored 29 points and the Cavaliers routed the Thunder for their fifth win in a row. LeBron James had 25 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds for Cleveland, which played without point guard Kyrie Irving after the first quarter because he had flu-like symptoms. Kevin Durant scored 26 points and Russell Westbrook had 20 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds for Oklahoma City, which lost its second straight at home coming out of the All-Star break.

at Dallas 129, Philadelphia 103: Wesley Matthews scored 21 points and Dirk Nowitzki had 18 to become the sixth player in NBA history to reach 29,000 points. Jahlil Okafor scored a career-high 31 points for the 76ers.

San Antonio 118, at Phoenix 111: Patty Mills had 21 points, matching his career high with six three-pointers, and the Spurs pulled away for a surprisingly difficult victory over the Suns, who lost their 11th in a row and 26th in 28 games. Tony Parker also scored 21 for San Antonio, including a spinning drive through the lane that made it a seven-point game with 1:03 to play.

at Toronto 98, Memphis 85: DeMar DeRozan scored 21 points, Kyle Lowry added 18 and the Raptors won their eighth consecutive home game. Lance Stephenson scored 16 points in his Grizzlies debut after arriving from the Clippers in a trade Thursday.

Boston 121, at Denver 101: Isaiah Thomas had 22 points and 12 assists and the Celtics beat the Nuggets for the fourth time in a row. Avery Bradley added 20 points for Boston. Nikola Jokic led Denver with 23 points and 13 rebounds.

Charlotte 104, at Brooklyn 96: Kemba Walker scored 28 points, Al Jefferson added 18 in his second game back from right knee surgery, and the Hornets extended their winning streak to a season-high five games.

Indiana 105, at Orlando 102: Monta Ellis scored 21 points and Paul George added 20 to help the Pacers to their fourth win in five games. Evan Fournier led the Magic with 23 points and Nikola Vucevic added 19 points and 13 rebounds.

at Portland 115, Utah 111: C.J. McCollum scored 31 points, including two clinching free throws with 2.7 seconds left, and Damian Lillard scored 30 points with five assists for the Trail Blazers, who won for the 14th time in 17 games.

at Chicago 126, Lakers 115