NEW ORLEANS -- They were lethal shots, the kind big players make at big moments of the game, and guard Jrue Holiday had no problem pulling the trigger.

The former All-Star guard with the 76ers, healthier than he's been in two seasons, made a 3-pointer from the left wing with 9.3 seconds left and then drained a game-winning, fallaway 19-foot jumper from the right side with 1.3 seconds remaining to lift the New Orleans Pelicans to a 105-103 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night at the Smoothie King Center.

It was the Pelicans' seventh win in nine games and improved their record to 18-28, a sign of solid improvement after opening the season 1-11.

Holiday's 3-pointer over the outstretched arms of forward Thomas Robinson gave New Orleans a 103-100 lead with 9.3 seconds left. The original play was for Holiday to look inside for forward Anthony Davis, but Holiday felt he couldn't get him the ball and the shot clock was winding down.

"Obviously, T-Rob is athletic, and that's why they were switching, but I made a good three," Holiday said. "Anthony had the point guard (Donald Sloan) on him, and that's definitely a mismatch that we want. 6-foot-11 against 6 feet. But at that time, there were five seconds left (on the shot clock) and I stepped back and let it go."

The Nets responded with a great inbounds feed from guard Donald Sloan to forward Joe Johnson, who nailed an open 3-pointer from two steps behind the key to tie the game at 103 with 6.9 seconds left.

The Pelicans called timeout, and guard Norris Cole inbounded the ball to Holiday, who once again tried to look inside for Davis. But after nearly losing his dribble, Holiday found himself on the right side of the court with few options other than to heave the ball toward the basket.

"I kind of lost it on the dribble a little bit, but I jumped up and caught vision and put it in," said Holiday, who finished with a team-high 26 points, 16 in the fourth quarter. "After it left my hands I thought it was good. It was flat. I kind of let it go, but I thought it was good."

Down 105-103, Johnson heaved the ball from beyond halfcourt, but the ball hit the back of the rim. The Nets (12-36) lost for the 12th time in 14 games.

Nets interim coach Tony Brown praised his team's effort in a 37-point fourth quarter with center Brook Lopez scoring 13 of his game-high 33 points in the period but he said Holiday's theatrics were too tough to handle.

"I don't know, I mean, falling back and it almost looked like a prayer," Brown said. "Hey, he made a tough shot. I thought defensively we tried to make it as tough as possible. Tip your hat to him. He made a great shot."

The Pelicans held the Nets to 15 third-quarter points and led 89-83 with 8:27 left. Forward Ryan Anderson added 24 points for New Orleans and Davis, scoreless on 0-of-9 shooting in the first half, finished strong with 20 points and 16 rebounds.

"That's basketball," Davis said. "You're going to miss shots; you're going to make shots. You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take. Just keep sticking with it, keep playing, trusting your game. It's tough when you're not making shots, but I tried to do other things on the other end. That's why we have two halves."

Davis was 0 of 10 from the floor before he made his first basket of the game, a short jumper, one minute into the third quarter. He went on to hit six of his first seven shots of the quarter, and his 12 points keyed the Pelicans' 27-15 quarter to take a 71-66 lead.

Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said despite allowing Brooklyn 37 points in the final quarter, he was thrilled with the win, which gave the Pelicans a 5-1 record with one game left on a season-long home stand. The Pelicans play Memphis Monday night.

"All of them are not going to be pretty wins," Gentry said. "All of them are not going to be exactly as you want them to be, but any win is a good win. In 27 years, I've never had a bad win in the NBA."

Johnson gave Holiday full credit for making the critical shots in the final 10 seconds.

"Holiday made some tough shots," Johnson said. "We had some great defense, hand in his face, a big guy guarding him but he just made tough shots."

NOTES: Pelicans F Anthony Davis returned to the lineup after being held out of New Orleans' 114-105 victory over Sacramento on Thursday night because of the NBA's concussion protocol. Davis took an inadvertent blow to the head last week from teammate Tyreke Evans while leaping for a rebound in a one-point loss to Houston. "He's what we're all about," coach Alvin Gentry said. "He can spread the floor, we can post him up, he can get out and run, he's a rim protector. Just having him back in the lineup means a lot." ... Nets coach Tony Brown was still upset about his bench's woeful performance in a 91-79 loss on Friday night in Dallas. Andrea Bargnani scored the only bench basket, and the rest of the reserves were 0 of 13 from the field. "I feel like last night I had to say something to them to let them know that I'm looking for something," Brown said. "Don't get comfortable if you think you're going to consistently get your minutes. That's not going to happen. We're going to make some changes or go somewhere else." ... New Orleans G Tyreke Evans missed the game with right knee tendinitis.