New Orleans Pelicans

Preview: Suns at Pelicans, 5:30 p.m., FOX Sports Arizona

Published Feb. 26, 2018 10:42 p.m. ET

The Sports Xchange

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NEW ORLEANS -- The Phoenix Suns have two more chances to avoid a winless month of February, starting Monday night against the New Orleans Pelicans, who are streaking in the opposite direction.

The Pelicans (33-26) got their fifth straight victory Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee with a 123-121 overtime win over the Bucks. It was also their sixth consecutive overtime win.

"We seem to find a way to get into these games," New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said.

The Suns (18-43) played valiantly but lost 106-104 on Saturday to Portland for their ninth loss in a row. The Trail Blazers outscored the Suns 35-23 in the fourth quarter, and guard Damian Lillard drove past newly acquired Elfrid Payton in the closing seconds for the winning layup.

The Suns had as much as a 15-point lead in the fourth quarter before Portland rallied. Lillard's layup came after a Suns turnover on an inbounds pass.

"We came out and we played early on," said guard Devin Booker, who scored 30 points in a losing effort. "That was the biggest thing for us, but still, no moral victories. We have to win. You learn winning by winning. There's no way around that."

The Pelicans’ most-recent game followed an virtually opposite script. They trailed the Bucks by 17 at halftime and by 18 early in the third quarter before turning the game around with a 38-19 quarter in which they made 15 of 25 shots from the field and held Milwaukee to 8-of-21 shooting.

It marked the fifth time this season the Pelicans have rallied from at least 18 points down to win.

"I don't think we want to keep getting down 18," Gentry said. "The one thing that's really positive is that we never really gave up and just kept plugging away."

After losing five of their first six games following the Jan. 26 season-ending Achilles injury to DeMarcus Cousins, the Pelicans appear to have righted the ship with superhuman efforts of Anthony Davis and breakout offensive performances of guard Jrue Holiday.

In the last five games, Davis has 196 points (39.2 average) and 72 rebounds (14.4) with 17 steals (3.4) and 14 blocks (2.8). He had 27 points and 12 boards in 43 minutes against the Bucks.

Holiday has picked up his offensive game in February. He torched the Bucks for 36 points -- one shy of his season high -- while making 16 of 31 shots. The 31 field goal attempts were his game high this year, a sign he is becoming more aggressive and using his strong post-up game to dominate smaller guards.

"We were just going to the basket," said Holiday, who scored 28 of his 36 points in the second half. "I'm tired of these overtimes, but I think when our backs are against the wall, we've handled adversity really well."

The Pelicans defeated the Suns 115-91 on Nov. 24 in Phoenix. New Orleans led by as many as 35 points in the third quarter and held Phoenix to .394 (37-of-94) shooting from the field, including 2 of 20 (.100) from 3-point range.

Davis led the Pelicans with a game-high 23 points to go with nine rebounds, and Jrue added 18 points. T.J. Warren scored a team-high 18 points for Phoenix in the loss. Booker was held to 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting, including 0 of 5 from 3-point range.