Anthony Davis had 31 points and 13 rebounds and the New Orleans Pelicans earned their first playoff berth since 2011 with a 108-103 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night.
Davis, who'll make his playoff debut against Golden State next weekend, came through in the waning minutes with a pair of clutch jumpers, two blocks and two rebounds to prevent the Spurs from pulling off a 23-point comeback.
Tyreke Evans had 19 points and 11 assists, and Eric Gordon added 14 points for New Orleans, which had to win to make the postseason because Oklahoma City also won in Minnesota. The teams finished with identical records, but the Pelicans held the tiebreaker on head-to-head results.
Jrue Holiday added 11 points, capped by game-sealing free throws with 9.5 seconds left.
Tony Parker had 23 points and Borris Diaw 20 for San Antonio, which needed to win to secure the second seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
The loss ended the Spurs' 11-game winning streak and prevented them from winning their fifth straight Southwest Division title. Instead, they dropped out of the top four seeds because Houston won.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich didn't seem to take the loss too hard. He walked toward New Orleans' bench to find his former player and assistant, Pelicans coach Monty Williams, and allowed a slight smile during an extended embrace.
Tim Duncan had 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Kawhi Leonard added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Spurs.
While New Orleans appeared in control most of the first three quarters, leading by 23 in the second and as much as 18 in the third, back-to-back 3s by Manu Ginobili and Patty Mills cut it to 82-71 heading into the fourth.
Then Mills hit a jumper as he was fouled just seconds into the final period, cutting it to eight.
The crowd's transition from jubilation to tension was evident when Diaw's driving layup had the Spurs as close as 86-82 with 7:38 left, but the Pelicans responded with the resilience that had gotten them this far.
They came up a series of defensive stops, and driving layups by Gordon and Evans helped push their lead back to 11.
Gordon later added a clutch 3, and Davis a baseline jumper as the shot clock expired with 1:36 left to keep the Spurs at arm's length.
Williams had urged his young team to soak in the big-game environment and embrace it. Then the Pelicans went out and thrived off the air of anticipation emanating from the mostly red-clad fans packing their arena.
New Orleans shot 68 percent (15 of 22) in the first quarter, working the crowd into a frenzy with a slew of highlights.
Davis had 10 points in the period, highlighted by his emphatic, breakaway dunk after he'd corralled a loose ball at mid-court. He also blocked a shot, and produced a heady assist with a pass in transition from mid-court to the left corner, where Anderson hit a 3.
Then Jrue Holiday, who returned from a nearly three month absence only last Friday, hit a jumper at the horn to put the Pelicans ahead 34-19.
New Orleans' lead reached 20 less than a minute into the second quarter, when Holiday's 3 made it 39-19.
The lead grew to 23 before the Spurs started to trim it back.
Parker had 16 points in the first half, which he closed with a jumper as time expired to trim San Antonio's deficit to 63-47.
TIP INS
Spurs: Duncan finished the regular season with 33 double-doubles. ... Leonard eclipsed 10 points for the 26th straight game. ... The Spurs finished 22-19 on the road.
Pelicans: The Pelicans beat the Spurs in three of four meetings, winning a season series over San Antonio for the first time since New Orleans became an NBA city for the second time in 2002-03. New Orleans moved to the Western Conference and became a Southwest Division foe of the Spurs in 2004-05. ... The Pelicans finished 28-13 at home.
UP NEXT:
Spurs: The first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Pelicans: A first-round playoff matchup with top seed Golden State.
