NEW ORLEANS -- It's not exactly a secret weapon and it's only a small sample size, but the New Orleans Pelicans' three-game experiment of playing small ball is working wonders for their spirits -- and for their record.

The Pelicans won their fourth consecutive game and fifth in six games with a 104-92 victory over the New York Knicks on Friday night at the Smoothie King Center, and they did it for the third straight game by keeping their true centers glued to the bench while forward Anthony Davis and a crew of combo players had the Knicks swatting at flies.

Davis had 23 points and 17 rebounds and guard Tyreke Evans came off the bench to score a season-high 16 points to do the most offensive damage, but it was the relentless defense posted by 6-foot-8 forward Dante Cunningham against Knicks 7-3 center Kristaps Porzingis and small forward Solomon Hill against Carmelo Anthony that sent the frustrated Knicks (16-16) to their third consecutive loss.

Twice early in the third quarter Porzingis found himself one-on-one in the post against 6-4 guard Jrue Holiday, and each time he missed at point-blank range. Porzingis finished 8 of 20 from the field (21 points), and Anthony was 8 of 22 (for a game-high 26). But the Knicks scored just 41 points in the second half on 32.6 percent shooting (15 of 46).

"That was our game plan -- just switch one through four and if (Porzingis) catches it on the block, just try to get into his air space knowing that he can put it on the floor," Davis said. "They tell us he struggles with people who are in his air space a lot, so that's what we tried to do. It worked for us tonight."

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry had grown weary of seeing a lack of consistent production from starting center Omer Ask and backup center Alexis Ajinca, so he decided in the midst of a critical five-game home stand to mix things up. It worked as the Pelicans completed the stand 4-1.

"We're going to play that defense and, obviously, if it starts to hurt us in some kind of way we'd have to make an adjustment," Gentry said. "The small guys did a great job. We just got to try to get up in their air space. I love watching (Porzingis) play, and he's going to get better and better and better."

The Pelicans (14-21) scored the final seven points of first half to take a 55-51 lead and then outscored the Knicks 13-2 to start the third quarter. The Pelicans held the Knicks to 26 percent shooting from the field in the third quarter. The Knicks went 6:10 without scoring a point on nine consecutive possessions.

Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said his team didn't make the Pelicans pay for playing small defenders.

"They were switching a lot," Hornacek said. "Melo (Anthony) was able to take advantage of it for a while, but if they're going to switch and put little guys on him, we have to try to punish them. We need to get to the free throw line when we throw it in the post. We just weren't able to convert."

"We've got to kind of re-evaluate kind of where we're at as a team right now," Anthony said. "The different kind of schemes that we're seeing against us, we've got to be able to adjust to that and react to that. We've just got to play better."

The Pelicans placed six players in double figures, led by Davis, who had his 21st game this season of at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. Holiday had a double-double for the Pelicans -- 12 points and 11 assists -- and E'Twaun Moore and Buddy Held had 12 points each.

NOTES: Despite facing the Knicks' front line of 7-foot-3 C Kristaps Porzingis, 6-11 F Joakim Noah and 6-8 F Carmelo Anthony, the Pelicans went with its small starting lineup for the third consecutive game. "I think every game is a test for it," New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said. ... The Pelicans have five healthy guards, which means former starting PG Tim Frazier is not seeing much time while Tyreke Evans increases his minutes. "It's a tough situation, but I found out a long time ago that you (can only) play four guys in two spots. You definitely can't play five. Somebody has to not play. ... I found in those kinds of situations it always works out." ... Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said he was only speaking truthfully when he said Anthony was wrongly called for a Flagrant-2 foul when he threw an elbow going after a rebound against Atlanta F Thabo Sefolosha on Wednesday. "There's going to be times when you need to support your guys," Hornacek said. "I really believed what I said how the foul occurred. It was just a natural reaction."