NEW ORLEANS -- Tyreke Evans looks so comfortable coming off the bench that Pelicans coach Monty Williams chose not to start him

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NEW ORLEANS -- Tyreke Evans looks so comfortable coming off the bench that Pelicans coach Monty Williams chose not to start him when Eric Gordon was unable to play because of his injured right hip. https://www.discountjerseysonline.com/hank-aaron-jersey-braves-98" class="TyTxtSmlC">Hank Aaron Jersey Braves . Williams got the result he wanted. Evans had 19 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, and New Orleans handed the Denver Nuggets their fifth straight loss, 105-89 on Friday night. It was the second straight double-double for Evans, who led the Pelicans to a victory Monday night in Sacramento with 25 points and 12 rebounds. He appreciates the significance of providing scoring off the bench. "Its important," Evans said. "When we come in like that and play together, find each other, move the ball ... I think thats when were at our best." Jrue Holiday had 17 points and four steals, causing two turnovers that led to late fast-break points as the Pelicans slammed the door on Denvers comeback bid. "I just love the way he defends and the way he competes," Williams said. "Its contagious." Anthony Davis added 17 points and four blocked shots despite playing sparingly in the first half because of three early fouls. Wilson Chandler scored 22 points and J.J. Hickson added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Nuggets, who trailed by 18 in the second quarter but were as close as 93-87 on Quincy Millers 3-pointer with 2:55 to go. Thats when Holiday found Davis for an alley-oop tip and again for a fast-break basket. Holiday followed that up with a short floater and a steal to set up Evans fast-break layup, and New Orleans easily held on from there for its second consecutive victory. A few minutes earlier, Davis briefly prevented Denver from pulling within seven points when he blocked three shots on one possession, the first two by Chandler and a third layup attempt by Andre Miller. "When hes talking on defence and rotating properly, were pretty tough," Williams said. "Our defence is pretty sound." New Orleans blocked eight shots in all and outrebounded Denver 53-42. The Pelicans outscored the Nuggets 48-36 in the paint and outshot them 47.2 per cent to 40.2 per cent. Denver was without starter Kenneth Faried for a second straight game because of his left ankle sprain. That led to a lineup shuffle in which Timofey Mozgov made his second start of the season at centre and Jordan Hamilton started his eighth game at guard in place of a healthy Randy Foye. "We talked about just trying to stay together and pulling for each other," Denver coach Brian Shaw said. "This is our team and we have to play with the guys that we have, regardless of whos out, regardless of the fact that it is a tough stretch for us, losing five in a row. "The same way we were feeling about each other when we won seven games in a row, we have to find and generate the kind of energy and effort that we need to correct what were doing right now thats allowing us to lose all these games in a row," he added. "We talk about changing behaviour in order to change results. We have to do that, and that means even if youre not in there, pulling for the guy thats in there in front of you." Ty Lawson had 14 points and 12 assists for Denver. Hamilton added 12 points. Despite a lethargic first half, Denver cut New Orleans lead to 70-64 in the third quarter after an 8-2 spurt that started with Hamiltons 3 and ended with Chandlers 3. Williams called timeout, and New Orleans responded. Al-Farouq Aminus steal led to Holidays 15-foot jumper, then Holiday stole the ball from Lawson and hit a breakaway layup. That sparked an 11-0 run that included Davis alley-oop layup off Evans lob, Aminus jumper and Evans 3. The Pelicans never trailed, thanks to sharp early shooting. New Orleans shot 52 per cent in the first quarter, building a 34-29 lead when Darius Miller hit a 3 as he was fouled and sank the free throw for a four-point play. The second quarter wasnt quite as crisp for New Orleans, and Davis spent much of the period on the bench with three fouls -- but Denver only fell further behind. Ryan Andersons third 3 of the half put the Pelicans ahead 49-31. Lawson had 10 first-half points for Denver, and his four straight to close out the second quarter pulled the Nuggets to 58-45 at halftime. NOTES: New Orleans (13-14) earned its first victory against an opponent that entered with a winning record. ... Anthony Morrow wound up starting for Gordon, who averages 15.4 points. Morrow had eight points. ... Mozgov finished with eight points and nine rebounds. ... Jason Smith missed his third straight game with a bruised right knee. Anderson started for him. ... The Pelicans play five of their next six games on the road, where they are 5-9 this season. ... The Nuggets finish a two-game road swing in Memphis on Saturday night. https://www.discountjerseysonline.com/phil-niekro-jersey-braves-105" class="TyTxtSmlC">Phil Niekro Jersey Braves . Englands only win in the four most recent trips north had been tight, and Scotland was expected after losing 28-6 to Ireland six days ago to show some venom against its archrival. https://www.discountjerseysonline.com/dale-murphy-jersey-braves-88" class="TyTxtSmlC">Dale Murphy Jersey Braves . -- Andrew Wiggins is from Canada, Wayne Selden from Massachusetts and Joel Embiid from the African nation of Cameroon. https://www.discountjerseysonline.com/" class="TyTxtSmlC">https://www.discountjerseysonline.com/ . JOHNS, N.BUFFALO – In about half as many games, the Toronto penalty kill has already allowed more power-play goals this season than it did all of last year. A once dominant unit that finished second best in the league in 2013 (87.9%) has fallen to 20th overall (79.4%) after two months this winter. The groups increasing woes were highlighted on Wednesday night by a season-high three-goal outburst from the Penguins power play in an eventual 6-5 shootout loss. "We havent changed anything," Jay McClement told the Leaf Report on Thursday afternoon. "Were just not getting the job done. I dont know what it is, but weve gotten away from the basic things that made us successful. You can say that weve had a couple bad bounces here and there, but were getting too many [scored] on us the last little while to say that." Over the past 11 games – a stretch that began at the outset of November – the Leafs have allowed 13 power play goals, hovering at just 71 per cent in that span. Already this season, theyve given up 20 power play goals or one more than all of last season. The sure-fire attitude once owned by the group has gradually taken a hit. "Thats a confidence were going to have to build back up over a big stretch of games here," said McClement, who leads the NHL in average ice-time shorthanded. "It seems like we have a couple good kills and we start to get it, start to build on it and then we give one up. [Its] something we just have to stick with and try not to lose all our confidence and get frustrated with it." A confident bunch last season, the Leafs rarely allowed sustained opportunity for opposing power plays, typically clearing the puck and changing personnel with seamless precision. The job hasnt gone quite so smoothly so far this season, be it because of positional mistakes, failed clears, easy entries, or simple confusion. Increasingly, the unit has relied far too heavily upon its two goaltenders. Consider that in 48 games last season, the Toronto penalty kill allowed 193 shots against; already this season, in just 25 games, the same unit has givven up 182 shots. https://www.discountjerseysonline.com/blue-moon-odom-jersey-braves-14" class="TyTxtSmlC">Blue Moon Odom Jersey Braves. Under increased strain, the goaltending has been good, but not quite as good as a year ago. James Reimer and Jonathan Bernier have combined to post a .890 save percentage shorthanded this season, slightly worse than the .902 mark set by Reimer and Ben Scrivens last season. "I think theres some trends that have come in," said Randy Carlyle of the penalty kill. "I think weve vacated the critical areas. I think weve won faceoffs and not cleared the puck. I think weve given up the middle of the ice too many times, gotten on the wrong side of the puck. "Those are things that were going to continue to try to fix because it has been a staple of our game. When those staples go away it reveals that youre not playing anywhere near where youre capable of playing." Not helping matters either is the discipline of the group. The Leafs have taken more minor penalties (113) than any team but the Ottawa Senators this season; up to 4.52 minors per game from 3.69 last season. A string of five straight such penalties helped propel the Penguins to come back from a 4-1 second period deficit on Wednesday night. "When youve got a good PK," said Carl Gunnarsson, third on the team in shorthanded minutes, "you feel good going out there and you know youre going to kill it probably 80, 90 per cent of the time." Just as the strut of the penalty kill has gradually diminished from the stronghold of last season, so too have a few key parts. Most prominently absent this year is Leo Komarov, an energetic and effective component in 2013 who returned to the KHL this season. Two additional pieces who made significant contributions, Mark Fraser and Nik Kulemin, missed nearly a month with injuries. "I think right now when you go through a spell like were going through, its tough to have that attitude," McClement said. "Its just really up and down right now. I guess more downs than ups right now. I think the biggest thing is we cant lose our confidence in it. We know what were doing works, weve just got to do it better." ' ' '