NEW ORLEANS – The Sixers, with a complete roster, are the lowest-scoring team in the NBA. Things were made that much more difficult when they took the floor on Monday without their top two scorers and assist men in Michael Carter-Williams and Tony Wroten.
Couple that with a monster game from Anthony Davis and the Sixers were handed a 99-74 loss by the New Orleans Pelicans. The defeat was the Sixers’ sixth in a row and dropped their record to 8-37.
The Pelicans picked up their fourth straight victory and now stand at 24-21.
Turning point
The Sixers were outscored 33-19 in the third quarter, leaving them down 23 points.
The Sixers shot 28.6 percent from the floor compared to the Pelicans' 57.1 percent during the third. They were also outrebounded by New Orleans 15-8 over that span.
Follow the leader
Anthony Davis "is a kid who plays like a man," according to Pelicans head coach Monty Williams.
NBA
Davis led all scorers with 32 points on Monday. He added 10 rebounds, four blocks, three assists and three steals.
Ryan Anderson is lethal from downtown. Anderson made 4 of 5 three-pointers and finished with 19 points.
K.J. McDaniels led the Sixers with 16 points off the bench.
Henry Sims and Luc Mbah a Moute each scored 14 points.
Nerlens Noel had one of his poorest performances with two points, two blocks, two steals and five rebounds. Noel was 1 for 9 from the floor.
Stat-egic
The Sixers were outrebounded in the game, 52-38.
Take a bow
New Orleans' starting point guard, Jrue Holiday, missed his eighth straight game with a stress reaction in his lower right leg. Chester native Tyreke Evans has stepped into Holiday’s role over that span and looks pretty comfortable.
Evans had a season-high 12 assists on Sunday against the Dallas Mavericks and he followed that up with another dozen dimes against the Sixers. He had just two turnovers on Monday.
Health check
Carter-Williams was out with an illness.
Tony Wroten flew in to rejoin the team after being in California last week to have his right knee examined. He is out indefinitely with a partially torn ACL.
What's next?
The Detroit Pistons, a team the Sixers have split two previous meetings thus far this season, come to Philadelphia on Wednesday.
The Pistons learned Sunday that Brandon Jennings is out for the remainder of the season with a torn Achilles. Jennings was the Pistons' leading scorer with 15.4 points per game.
The Pistons had a stretch after waiving Josh Smith in December when they won 9 of 11 games. In their last 10 games, their record is 5-5.