Pelicans outscore Wizards to hit All-Star break on high note

“There are no layups in the NBA.”

On my All Access Radio Show prior to the New Orleans Pelicans hosting the lowly Washington Wizards on Wednesday night, Sharief Ishaq of WDSU-TV made that statement.

He could not be more correct.

Yes, the Pelicans were hosting a horrible team with a 9-44 record.

No, the Pelicans had not played particularly well in their previous three games but came away with a pair of victories, thanks to good defensive plays with their offense lacking.

The script flipped in this one as New Orleans raised their offensive play, overcoming a lack of defense in a 133-126 victory over the Wizards at Smoothie King Center.

The Pelicans shot 56.3 percent from the field and had to sweat out a win, largely because of the 3-point shooting of the Wizards, who drilled 20 three-pointers, outscoring New Orleans 60-20 from beyond the arc.

When you are beaten that badly from distance, you typically lose.

New Orleans did not lose, largely due to outscoring Washington 72-44 in points in the paint.

It looked for a while like it would be a laugher as the Pelicans built a 20-point lead at 66-46 with just 2:51 to play in the second quarter but the Wizards closed the half on a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to 68-60 at the break.

That was just the beginning.

Washington dominated the third quarter, even taking a 6-point lead, before New Orleans righted the ship and carried a 99-98 lead into the final quarter.

The Wizards took a 115-113 lead with 5:30 to play before New Orleans outscored Washington 20-11 the rest of the way for the win.

The Pelicans scored their eighth win in nine games and their third straight victory. The last three have come against subpar, even poor opponents, but they count.

No, New Orleans is not playing its best or even good basketball overall hitting the All-Star break but they are still winning.

The result is a 33-22 record, the best record for New Orleans at the break since the 2008-09 season when the Pelicans won a playoff series.

Zion Williamson tied his season high with 36 points on 15-of-21 shooting from the field. Williamson added eight assists and six rebounds in one of his best, if not his best performance of the season and the Pelicans needed every inch of it.

CJ McCollum scored 24 points with six assists and Brandon Ingram had 18 points and seven assists.

The bench play of the Pelicans came up big as Naji Marshall, Jose Alvarado, Larry Nance Jr. and Trey Murphy combined for 33 points, 14 rebounds, 11 steals and 10 assists.

Once again, it was needed, due to the play of Deni Avdija, who had a career night.

The Wizards forward scored 43 points and pulled down 14 rebounds, easily topping his previous career best of 25 points.

Avdija became the first Washington player to top 40 points and 10 rebounds since Russell Westbrook did so on May 1, 2021.

Once again, it was not pretty but the Pelicans are finding ways to win games on nights where they are not close to being their best.

Now, the eight-day All-Star break arrives for the players and coaches to recharge their batteries before returning to action at home against Houston on Feb. 22.

While there are no layups in the NBA, the Pelicans shot enough layups to avoid laying an egg against a bad team.