The New York Knicks defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, 123-117, at Smoothie King Center on Saturday night.

The Knicks (5-1) now own the league's best record and delivered an impressive performance on both sides of the ball, winning easily -- despite what the scoreline indicates -- on the road against the Pelicans (1-6), a team that keeps trending in the wrong direction. The Knicks got off to a strong start and jumped out to a 34-28 lead in the first quarter to set the tone of the contest, but New Orleans shortened the gap with a 31-29 second quarter that made it a four-point game at the halftime break. The Knicks would not lose the grip at any point during the second half and while the Pelicans stayed close to them, they couldn't complete the comeback. In fact, New York won both the third and fourth quarters by one point each, 25-24 and 35-34, to walk away with the victory.

R.J. Barrett had an impressive performance in this game and carried the Knicks offensively with 35 points on 12-for-18 shooting, but he also added eight rebounds and six assists. Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier each delivered 19 points, though Walker did a better job of stuffing the box score with five assists, four rebounds and four steals. Julius Randle had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Taj Gibson delivered 13 points and seven boards off the bench.

Jonas Valanciunas led the Pelicans on offense and finished with 27 points and 14 rebounds, while Devonte' Graham finished with 17 points and eight assists to go along with three steals. Josh Hart had 16 points and eight rebounds, Nickeil Alexander-Walker mustered 13 points and six dimes, and Herbert Jones added 12 points with five assists, three boards and three steals. Kira Lewis Jr. mustered 12 points off the bench.