NEW ORLEANS -- As Anthony Davis trotted off the court and toward the locker room, fans gathered near the tunnel offered one more round of applause, some of them shouting their congratulations to Davis for receiving his first All-Star game nod. Raptors Jerseys 2020 . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. "Its great, man" Davis said. "Weve got to keep pushing. You cant get too happy -- but at the same time, youve got to enjoy it." Davis, who leads the NBA with an average of more than 3 blocks per game, is also making 20-point, 10-rebound outings look routine lately. Meanwhile, the Pelicans have won six of eight games despite being without two key players -- forward Ryan Anderson (herniated disk) and point guard Jure Holiday (fractured shin). "Were fighting," Davis said. "Were grinding each and every night and coming up with big-time wins." Davis narrowly missed being picked by coaches as a Western Conference All-Star reserve, but when Kobe Bryant was unable to play in the game because of his injured left knee, new NBA commissioner Adam Silver chose Davis as Bryants replacement. Then Davis turned in his 17th 20-point, 10-rebound game of the season before a national TV audience, replete with highlight-worthy alley-oop and putback dunks. In the pivotal fourth quarter, he grabbed seven rebounds and had his only blocked shot. "Its a great way to cap a day off, to be selected (as an All-star) early in the afternoon and then to play like that on national TV in front of the world," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. "Its pretty cool. Its a lot for a 20 year old who is just scratching the surface on what he can do." Eric Gordon scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half on an array of jumpers and explosive drives to help fuel New Orleans comeback. "I got up more shots in the second half," Gordon said. "Im always going to shoot a decent field goal percentage. The more shots I get up, the easier it is for me." Brian Roberts added 16 points, including a 22-foot pullup jumper to make it 96-91 with 22 seconds left, and the Pelicans made 13 of 20 shots in the fourth quarter, outscoring Minnesota 37-20 in the period. Kevin Love, returning from a one-game absence caused by neck stiffness, had 26 points and 19 rebounds for Minnesota. Corey Brewer added 16 points and Kevin Martin 15. Loves inside presence helped Minnesota build the largest lead of the game, at 12, in the third quarter. Love outrebounded the Pelicans as a team 8-5 and had nine points in the period, seven at the free throw line. His free throws in the final minute of the quarter made it 71-59 before Austin Rivers 11-foot floater pulled the Pelicans back to 10 points heading into the final period. "It was tough because I just came off of playing a number of physical games and I had been taking a beating. Im just trying to give this team all that I can," Love said. "But in the end, it wasnt enough." New Orleans still trailed by nine when J.J. Bareas fast-break layup made it 75-66. The play had Williams muttering to himself in disgust as he called timeout, and New Orleans responded. Gordons 18-foot pull-up jumper and a pair of 3s by Anthony Morrow fueled a 12-2 run. Gordon capped the surge with an explosive dribble drive past Brewer for a two-handed dunk. New Orleans gradually built its lead to seven. Ricky Rubio, who had 11 points, briefly cut it to 89-85 with a 3, but Morrows third 3 on as many attempts made it 92-85 and Minnesota did not get closer than three points after that. "Our decision making offensively wasnt very good," Minnesota coach Rick Adelman said. "I dont think we played well together. Everyone was trying to do it for themselves. ... We have to find a way to trust each other better than that." NOTES: Love was 14 for 17 from the free throw line. ... F Luke Babbitt made his debut for the Pelicans in the second quarter and hit a 3 soon after checking in and finished with five points in 19:29, including a clutch tip-in of Davis miss late in the fourth quarter. Stitched Raptors Jerseys .com) - Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns each scored 12 points in the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats 70-55 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide. Cheap Raptors Jerseys .The ruling takes effect on Jan. 1 and stems from the debate surrounding Paralympic champion Markus Rehm, an amputee who won the national long jump title competing with a carbon-fiber prosthesis. https://www.cheapraptors.com/ . The person spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement was made. By releasing Bailey, the Broncos would open up cap space with the 12-time Pro Bowl player scheduled to make around $10 million next season.VANCOUVER -- Maelle Ricker is confident shell be able to defend her womens snowboard cross gold medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics. The 35-year-old from West Vancouver, B.C., broke her wrist in training Jan. 28 and required surgery to repair the compound fracture. "Ive been training everyday, Ive been doing physio everyday. My arm is getting better and better, its getting more range and getting the swelling out," Ricker said during a conference call Wednesday. "Everybodys done such an amazing job just as a team, as a whole support network to get me out the door and get me on the plane Saturday to get me over to Russia." Snowboard cross involves four athletes racing down a course at the same time, often jockeying for position. Rickers accident happened when she lost her balance during a training run on the X Games course in Vail, Colo. "It was in a section that Ive ridden dozens of times previous to that run. It was nothing new or surprising. I didnt control my speed as I should have," said Ricker, who won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. "I did the exact opposite of what youre supposed to do -- I put my arm out to break the fall and unfortunately it broke me." Despite having a bone sticking of the side of her arm that "was crazy looking" less than three weeks before she was scheduled to compete in Sochi, Ricker said she was never concerned about her ability to participate. "I wasnt worried about that because I had so much support and reassurance right away that I was getting the absolute best medical care on the planet," she said. "I definitely felt that support and reassurance right away." Ricker said she wont get back on her snowboard until she reaches Sochi. She expects there to be some pain when she competes, mainly at the top of the course when she pulls herself out of the start gate. She said some of the exercises shes been doing since the injuury involve simulating a snowboard cross start using bungee cords and pulleys. Toronto Raptors Shirts. "I think its going to be better than maybe what I think, based just on my progress the last few days," said Ricker. "Everything is moving so much better than what I would ever imagine a week (post-operation) from breaking an arm. "I think its going to go quite well. Im really positive about this." Ricker and her fellow womens snowboard cross competitors will get their first look at the Sochi course Feb. 12, with the initial training session scheduled for two days later. The race is scheduled to go Feb. 16. Ricker has fought through injuries before -- including a crash right before the Vancouver Games as well as a concussion this past December -- and expects to be able to do the same in Sochi. "Id be lying if I said it wouldnt be in the back of my mind," she said. "Im hoping everything will go as a usual competition and thats where I spend a lot of time visualizing and thinking about the race and technically what Im doing on the board. Usually that overpowers any pain or anything else thats going on." Ricker made her Olympic debut in 1998 on Canadas halfpipe team at Nagano, Japan. She returned to the Games in 2006 at Turin, Italy, with the snowboard cross team but crashed and had to be airlifted to hospital. She returned in 2010 to win gold and it sounds like shes equally motivated this time around. "It sounds crazy, but its helped me," said Ricker of the injury. "This is almost like there was this burning fire, desire. Its almost like somebody doused a bunch of gasoline on the fire so Im pretty ready to go. I can feel the adrenaline and I can feel the excitement of going over to Russia. "Im actually just going to use that as a positive and use that for motivation to just get me through these couple of weeks and hopefully have the race of my life." ' ' '