Pelicans rally from 18-point deficit to win

NEW ORLEANS — Before the game, the New Orleans Pelicans’ locker room looked like a field hospital for tall people, with stars Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday and Ryan Anderson in street clothes nursing extended injuries and starting guard Tyreke Evans fighting off a stomach bug.

But after trailing the Toronto Raptors by 18 points in the first half Monday night, the Pelicans staged their largest comeback of the season behind reserve forward Luke Babbitt’s season-high 18 points — which included four 3-pointers — to rally for an improbable 100-97 victory over the Raptors at the Smoothie King Center.

The Pelicans (29-27) trailed virtually the entire game until reserve center Alexis Ajinca hit a go-ahead layup off a wraparound feed from Evans with 49 seconds left, putting New Orleans up 98-97. Evans had 12 assists.

Then, after Pelicans center Omer Asik blocked guard Kyle Lowry’s driving jumper in the lane, reserve guard Jimmer Fredette, sitting the entire game, came off the bench, received the inbounds pass and was fouled with 4.2 seconds left.

A 94 percent foul shooter, Fredette calmly hit both free throws — his only points of the night — putting the Pelicans up 100-97. With no timeouts, Toronto rushed the ball upcourt, but Lowry’s 3-point attempt from the left wing bounced short off the rim.

“A lot of character being displayed on the floor,” said New Orleans coach Monty Williams, whose team swept Toronto for the first time since the 2005-06 season. “At the same time, Tyreke got sick. He could have (packed) it in, but he came back out and I thought that gave us the biggest boost.”

Babbitt hit back-to-back threes in a span of 37 seconds to give the Pelicans their first lead of the game, 94-93, with 1:23 left.

“Guys were finding me,” Babbitt said. “The penetrators, as always, on this team do a great job moving the ball, so in the second half we got the ball moving a little bit more, and our shots started falling.”

Evans looked sluggish and suffered through a poor shooting night (5 of 13), but he penetrated for a layup with 1:23 remaining to put New Orleans up 96-93.

Lowry, who led Toronto with 22 points, regained the lead for the Raptors, 97-96, with a tough jumper in the lane and two foul shots after being fouled by Ajinca on a rebound attempt. That simply set up the fireworks in the last 49 seconds.

“We never give up,” said Ajinca, who led the Pelicans with 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting and also pulled down nine rebounds. “We stick to the plan, stay together and keep fighting our way in. I had to step up today with two of our bigs out. I hope that is going to keep going that way.”

The Raptors, who lost their second consecutive game to fall to 37-19, led 56-44 at halftime but seemed to settle for jump shots in the second half, said coach Dwane Casey. They were 5 of 23 from long range overall, including 2 of 13 in a 41-point second half.

“I thought we got 3-point happy a little bit,” Casey said. “We were shooting 21 percent. We were in transition. We have to take it to the basket starting in the fourth quarter. You always have to drive it to the basket. Some nights your threes aren’t falling. That’s when you drive it.”

The Pelicans trailed 87-79 with 6:41 left but outscored Toronto 21-10 in the final 5:53. New Orleans also got 15 points from newly acquired point guard Norris Cole and 14 from Asik, who also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Cole was acquired at the trading deadline from the Miami Heat to give the Pelicans insurance at backup point guard due to Holiday’s lower leg injury, and Cole played a strong defensive game and added some offensive punch by making 7 of 11 shots from the floor and dishing out six assists in 25 minutes.

Asked how much of the Pelicans offense he knew, Cole said: “I know a lot more than I did two days ago.”

Center Jonas Valanciunas finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds for Toronto, but he played only 12 minutes in the second half.

“It’s frustrating, it sucks, especially playing like we have,” said Toronto guard DeMar DeRozan. “We settled for too many jump shots and didn’t press the issue.”

NOTES: Pelicans coach Monty Williams has had to deal with so many injuries over the last three seasons that he almost seems immune to being without PF Anthony Davis (sprained right shoulder), PF Ryan Anderson (sprained left knee) and PG Jrue Holiday (stress reaction in lower right leg). “I like the fight of our guys,” Williams said. “We do have guys who are hungry and want to be in these moments. I think it will fall into place. We have had different guys on our bench step up before.” … Williams said Dante Cunningham is better suited to playing power forward than small forward. … After a season-worst 98-76 loss at Houston on Saturday, Toronto coach Dwane Casey said his team was embarrassed. “Just the way we got muscled around and pushed around,” Casey said. “We got pushed back on our heels a bit. Hopefully our pride kicks in.” … The Raptors committed a season-high 25 turnovers against the Rockets. They gave the ball away only eight times Monday.