OAKLAND, Calif. -- The New Orleans Pelicans cleared Tyreke Evans to play in Monday night's Game 2 97-87 loss to the Golden State Warriors but ruled out fellow guard Jrue Holiday.
Both Evans (knee) and Holiday (leg) tested their injuries in pregame warm-ups before the Pelicans made the call on whether either one of them could face the Warriors.
Evans suffered a deep bone bruise to his left knee after banging knees with Golden State's Andre Iguodala in the first half of Saturday's Game 1 and was initially feared to have suffered a more serious injury, having reported hearing "a little pop" upon taking the hit. But Evans recovered sufficiently to convince the Pelicans to give him a try in Game 2.
The relief stemming from Evans' ability to play, however, has to be tempered by the sudden unavailability of Holiday, who missed 41 games during the regular season because of a stress reaction and subsequent soreness in his lower right leg.
Holiday logged 21 minutes in Saturday's Game 1 for the Pelicans, who had been hopeful of increasing the former All-Star's minutes as the series progressed. Holiday's status for Thursday's Game 3 in New Orleans was not immediately known.
After Game 1, Holiday felt strong enough to tell ESPN.com's Tom Haberstroh that he was prepared to start in Evans' place if necessary.
"I feel healthy enough to do whatever Coach needs me to do," Holiday said Saturday.