Without Davis, Pelicans’ win streak ends at 10 vs Wizards
New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis, sitting out due to an ankle sprain, gestures on the court at the start of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards in New Orleans, Friday, March 9, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
NEW ORLEANS — Otto Porter Jr. scored 19 points and the Washington Wizards cruised to a 116-97 victory Friday night over the New Orleans Pelicans, who couldn’t overcome the absence of All-Star Anthony Davis and had their 10-game winning streak snapped.
Markieff Morris scored 17 and Bradley Beal added 16 for the Wizards, who led by as many as 27 points en route to their second straight victory.
Without the 6-foot-10 Davis’ ability to affect opponents’ shots or prolong Pelicans possession with offensive rebounds, New Orleans looked overmatched on the boards. Washington outrebounded New Orleans 49-38, and converted 10 offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points.
The Pelicans, by comparison, managed just two offensive rebounds and four second-chance points.
Darius Miller scored 20 points and Cheick Diallo a season-high 14 for the Pelicans, who’ll hope to have Davis back for their next game against Utah.
Jrue Holiday, who averages 19.4 points, was held to four points on 2-of-8 shooting while contending with constant double-teams. Nikola Mirotic also labored through a sharp downturn in production from his 26-point outburst in the Pelicans’ previous game in Sacramento. After making 10 of 12 shots — including four 3s — against the Kings, Mirotic shot 3 of 11 against Washington — including 0 of 4 from deep — and finished with nine points.
New Orleans also missed 14 of its 20 3-point attempts.
New Orleans fell behind by as many as 19 points during a dismal first half in which the Pelicans missed all 10 of their 3-point attempts, turned the ball over 10 times and did not have a single offensive rebound.
Porter scored 16 during the first half, hitting an array of layups, floaters and jumpers, including a 27-foot 3 that made it 50-33 late in the second quarter.
The Wizards took their largest lead in the third quarter, when Beal’s five straight points on a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws capped an 11-0 run that made it 77-50 late in the period.
At that point, fans who may well have been enthralled by New Orleans’ franchise record-tying 10-game winning streak seemed to be losing interest in the way the Pelicans were performing against Washington, and many began heading toward the exits.
TIP-INS
Wizards: Improved to 14-11 against Western Conference teams, including 7-6 on the road. … Swept the season series and have now defeated New Orleans in five straight and 12 of 13. … Improved to 26-7 when outrebounding an opponent. … Wizards came in averaging 34.5 points per game from reserves and got 50 in New Orleans, including 14 from Mike Scott, 11 from Kelly Oubre Jr. and 10 from Jodie Meeks. … Oubre, a New Orleans native, arrived at the game wearing the Saints jersey of running back Alvin Kamara, who attended the game. He scored 11 points.
Pelicans: Fell to 3-4 without Davis in the lineup, but all three victories came before All-Star DeMarcus Cousins went out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon on Jan. 26. This marked the first game New Orleans played without either Cousins or Davis this season. … Failed to score 100 for the first time since their last loss, 100-86 in Philadelphia on Feb. 9.
UP NEXT
Wizards: At Miami Saturday night.
Pelicans: Host Utah Sunday afternoon.
