Despite a valiant fight in the fourth, a story told over and over this season, the Pelicans saw their rally fall short to the Lakers on Friday, losing 123-113.

The Good: Anthony Davis

It’s a hard pill to swallow for obvious reasons, but Anthony Davis was absolutely dominant on the night. He finished with 46 points on 15-of-21 shooting with 13 points. That was better even than the 41 points and nine rebounds he had in the first meeting against New Orleans earlier this season.

He was unguardable on the night. The Pelicans tried to continue playing small against the super-sized Lakers and it failed. And Davis put the exclamation point on the night twice with a pair of one-handed lobs in each half.

Honorable Mentions: Baby Lakers, nine-man rotations, E’Twaun Moore again

The Bad: The first and third quarter

It’s the same old song and dance with the Pelicans this year with a slow start in any of the opening three quarters is followed by the team clawing its way back into the game. On Friday, the Pelicans were outscored 42-30 and, if not for a handful of buckets from Lonzo Ball, would have trailed further.

New Orleans fought back into the game in the second quarter but then repeated the feat in the third, falling behind this time by as many as 24 points at 100-76. Again, they fought back in the fourth and made it a contest but couldn’t overcome their big deficit again.

Honorable Mention: Defense on Anthony Davis, defense on Danny Green, three-point shooting

The Ball: Best basketball of his career

Lonzo Ball followed up a 27-point night on Sunday against Houston with another 20-point outing, leading the Pelicans with 23 points. It’s the first time in his career he’s paired 20-point games back-to-back and another symbol of how well he’s playing.

While the three ball didn’t fall quite at the rate it has in recent weeks, he still finished with five assists, a pair of steals and a pair of rebounds. He attacked the rim with an aggressiveness that is rarely seen from him, highlighted by a pair of dunks on strong drives into the lane.

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