Kristaps Porzingis’s 30 Points Help Knicks Top Pelicans and End Skid

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NEW ORLEANS — Kristaps Porzingis scored 30 points and Jarrett Jack made two free throws to break a tie with nine seconds remaining to lift the Knicks over the New Orleans Pelicans, 105-103, on Saturday night.

Jack finished with 15 points, and Michael Beasley scored 15 off the bench for the Knicks, who ended a season-worst four-game losing streak.

Anthony Davis had 31 points and 9 rebounds for the Pelicans, but he missed a 3-pointer just before the final buzzer. DeMarcus Cousins had 29 points and 19 rebounds, Jrue Holiday scored 13 and E’Twaun Moore had 12.

Cousins hit a 3-pointer and scored on a drive to give the Pelicans a 99-91 lead with 2 minutes 57 seconds left before the Knicks fought back.

Porzingis scored 7 straight points to give the Knicks a 103-101 lead with 38 seconds left. Cousins then made two free throws to tie the score before Jack was fouled by Holiday while shooting from the lane.

“K.P. had just hit a couple of shots, so I knew they weren’t leaving him,” said Jack, a former Pelican. “That left me with a nice lane to drive toward the basket. I made an aggressive play, got fouled and did my job by knocking down two free throws.”

Jack’s play completed a comeback from an 8-point deficit in the final three minutes.

Holiday opened the scoring in the fourth quarter with a 3-point play that started an 8-0 run the Pelicans, giving them an 86-79 lead.

Frank Ntilikina’s jumper ended the Knicks drought and started an 8-2 run that got them within 88-87 midway through the fourth.

“We missed a lot of open shots in the beginning of the fourth quarter, must have had five or six in a row we couldn’t make and at the end we got down by eight,” Knicks Coach Jeff Hornacek said. “The team kept their poise and they made the plays. They didn’t try to do anything they were incapable of doing.”

The Knicks (18-18) were ahead by 11 at halftime, but Davis led a surge in the third quarter. He scored 14 points, including 7 straight, as the Pelicans got within 75-71.

Holiday’s 3-pointer helped cut the Pelicans’ deficit to a point, at 79-78 after three quarters.

Beasley scored 11 points as the Knicks’ bench outscored the Pelicans’ bench, 23-8, in the second quarter. Over all, the Knicks reserves outscored the Pelicans’ backups, 42-10.