Story By: Sol Tucker
Photos By: Sol Tucker
Washington, D.C–
There have been quite a few games this season where we could look back and say the Wizards had a great start to the game… well then there was the second half.
Washington opened up a 24-10 lead to start the game against the Pelicans who again played without Zion Williamson (Sprained Ankle) and seemed to get going in the right direction behind an early 10 points from Kyle Kuzma, however the remainder of the team just could not find a way to get it going to help him out.
While the Pelicans may have been down a few players, others stepped up, including Brandon Ingram who scored a season-high 40 points. Trey Murphy III added a whopping six three pointers finishing with 27 points and all the Pelicans would need to pull away by the 5-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
To add insult to injury for the Wizards, Jonas Valanciunas had his way on the boards and it seemed as the Wizards forgot he could shoot from deep as well. He finished the game with 16 points and 18 rebounds and CJ Mc Collum had 22 points.
Bilal Coulibaly, who has had some tough nights recently, added 16 points while hitting four 3-pointers for just the second time in his young career.
“I think it’s something that he has worked on quite a bit,” Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. said of Coulibaly’s long-range shooting. “To see him just let it fly, find a rhythm, I think that’s positive.”
As the game started to get away from the Wizards, Unseld Jr was hit with a technical foul as he just had seen enough the physical style of play from the Pelicans.
The Wizards will have a day to get things right before the face a streaking Pacers team on Friday night at home.
