NEW ORLEANS -- Life after Kobe seems to be going just fine for this bold, new brand of run-and-gun Los Angeles Lakers.

Behind a backcourt quartet of Jordan Clarkson (23 points), D'Angelo Russell (22), Lou Williams (21) and Nick Young (15), the Lakers demolished the New Orleans Pelicans 126-99 Saturday night at the Smoothie King Center.

The Lakers' backcourt accounted for 81 points on 31-of-51 shooting, including 15 of 25 from 3-point range.

The four guards also had 15 of the Lakers' 36 assists on 52 made field goals, the most for the Lakers since collecting 36 in a game against Houston on April 8, 2014.

In winning for the fifth time in six games, the Lakers (6-4) overshadowed the game-high 34 points by Anthony Davis. The Pelicans' forward fell awkwardly to the floor midway through the third quarter after making a floater in the lane and sustained an injury to his lower right back.

Although Davis returned after spending six minutes in the locker room, the Lakers exploited his absence to go on a 16-4 run, turning a 63-62 advantage into a 79-66 lead. Los Angeles extended its lead to as many as 29 points in the fourth quarter. The Lakers outscored New Orleans 71-43 in the second half.

"I think our guys love competing," Los Angeles coach Luke Walton said. "I think they feel more challenged in the second half to go get it done. It's almost as if when the game starts, you know we have 48 minutes to get it done. Obviously, we don't want that ... but it's a process."

The NBA's best bench - which came into the game leading the league averaging 48.8 points per game - poured in 73 of the Lakers' 126 points.

"I'm just trying to stay on the floor," said Williams, whose 21 points came in 25 minutes off the bench. "This team is so deep. In order for me to stay on the floor - everyone knows I can score the basketball - I'm trying to bring different elements to the game."

Russell had 12 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, going 5 of 6 from the field and making a pair of long-range jumpers in the Lakers' 42-point period.

"We got some great guards - we got some killers," Russell said. "It's up to us to go out there and maintain it and do it every game."

Young said it's difficult for opponents to know whom to guard because the Lakers have so many scoring threats.

"It's tough, but it's a great problem to have," said Young, who led the Lakers with five 3-pointers. "We just want to keep this thing going."

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said his team did not have the depth to handle the Lakers' bench.

"Their bench came in and just dominated," Gentry said. "Their bench totally dominated the game. We had that stretch with AD out where it went from being a three-point game to a 16-point game. Then, after that, we were playing catch-up."

Gentry pointed to little things the Pelicans (1-9) are not doing - forcing the wild shot up at the end of the first quarter with 12 second left when they should have pulled the ball out for a last shot. Solomon Hill drove, lost the ball, and the Lakers converted on the other end for a layup and three-point play.

"We just can't make plays like that because we don't have the margin for error to make those kinds of plays and think you can recover from them," Gentry said.

NOTES: Davis' 34 points marked his fourth consecutive 30-plus games. ... He is the ninth player in NBA history to score 300 points and grab 100 rebounds in the first 10 games. ... The Pelicans have yet to confirm the imminent return of PG Jrue Holiday, who has been with his wife for the last two months while she gave birth to their first child and then had surgery to remove a benign brain tumor. The Vertical reported Holiday would return next week. "Everybody wonders about Jrue," New Orleans coach Alvin Gentry said. "We're hoping, but he'll let us know the definite date that he'll be back, and we'll be fine with that." ... Gentry said he was pleased with F Solomon Hill's performance off the bench in the Pelicans' first victory of the season on Thursday night at Milwaukee. "If we can get 10 (points), five rebounds and five assists from him every night we would be ecstatic," Gentry said. ... Los Angeles rookie F Brandon Ingram closed out the Lakers' 101-91 victory at Sacramento. "We have that trust in him that we know he's going to be a huge part of our future," Lakers coach Luke Walton said.