Davis receives villian's welcome in New Orleans homecoming

While “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” does not open for another three weeks, former Pelican Anthony Davis received a Darth Vader-like welcome upon his first return to New Orleans as a Los Angeles Laker on Wednesday night.

The six-time NBA All-Star was met with a resounding chorus of boos when introduced prior to tipoff and then again when he hit the game’s second basket of the night — an alley-oop dunk assisted by LeBron James — to give the Lakers and early 4-0 lead.

Following a protracted exodus from New Orleans which seemingly span the breadth of last season, expected a cold reception at the sold-out Smoothie King Center (18,626) and the Pelicans faithful did not disappoint.

“It’s the first one," said Davis after the game. "We have another (trip to New Orleans) in March. Any time we go to an arena we see a lot of Lakers fans. It motivates us knowing that we have fans behind us.

"I was fine. I kind of experienced it a little last year for what to expect," he continued referring to the crowd's negative reception. "LeBron told me what he went through. He went through a lot worse from what he told me. I just got boos Last year kind of helped that. I felt good.”

Despite holding a 10-point lead (89-79) at the start of the fourth after leading each of the first three quarters, the Pelicans succumbed to Western Conference leaders with Davis snatching a defensive rebound to squash a New Orleans rally down 111-110 with six seconds to play before sinking three of four free-throw attempts to close the game 114-110.

Davis entered the matchup averaging 25.1 points per game, 1.3 more than his career average, and finished with a game-high 41 and nine rebounds. Davis also hit 10 of 12 from the free-throw line. James contributed with 29 points of his own and was instramentual in the Lakers overtaking the Pelicans inside the game’s final six minutes with 11 points.

Meanwhile, Davis’ former teammate Jrue Holiday led New Orleans with 29 points of his own, including 12 from beyond the perimeter, followed by Brandon Ingram with 23 and JJ Redick with 18.

"It feels good that we got this win," said Davis. "This is a great young team led by Jrue (Holiday). They competed and they came out going at us. Three after three, [we] were bad defensively in that first half. We said the only way they could probably beat us is over the top. They were in the game – it was a good game.”

The Lakers (16-2) extend their win streak to nine games and hold on to the league’s best record in the process. While the Pelicans (6-12) drop their third straight.