Wizards 105 Pelicans 91
February 4, 2017 – Verizon Center, Washington, DC
After a pro-Lakers crowd on Thursday night that made Verizon Center look more like Staples Center, there was more red, white and blue in the stands on Saturday night. A near sellout crowd watched the Wizards rally and put together one of their best late-game runs in a long time as the Wizards got a 105-91 win over the Pelicans.
1st quarter
The Wizards wasted no time from the opening tip off as they outscored the Pelicans 14-2 four minutes into the game. John Wall had the first score of the night for the Wizards with a three. Later on, Solomon Hill turned the ball over and Marcin Gortat tapped the ball to Wall. Wall went up the court, found Gortat, who slammed it in to make his Polish fan club go wild on Polish Heritage Night.
Otto Porter would later drain a three that put the Wizards ahead 12-2.
A jumper by Markieff Morris made it 14-2 but the Pelicans would outscore the Wizards the rest of the way 16-10. Anthony Davis finished with 10 points in the opening quarter. For the home team, Gortat finished with 10 rebounds, seven coming from the defensive end. Wall and Porter paced the Wizards offense with seven and five points respectively. Wizards led 24-18 after one.
2nd quarter
Tomas Satoransky did some great post work, driving to the hoop and getting the layup to put the Wizards up 30-23.
The Pelicans answered by cutting their deficit to three before the Wizards answered with a 12-2 run. The scoring run was highlighted by more bench players (!). Jason Smith hit two jumpers and Kelly Oubre buried a three.
The Wizards had a 43-31 lead but New Orleans continued to play catch-up. A 12-5 run made it a 46-43 game with under three minutes to go. One positive: Otto made another three
A three by Bradley Beal put the Wizards back up by six. The Wizards would headed to the locker room up four, with a 53-49 lead.
3rd quarter
Wall to Gortat was a thing of beauty:
The Pelicans continued to chip away but this three by Beal put the Wizards up six.
The Pelicans would come back and a jumper by Buddy Hield gave them their first lead since starting the game up 2-0, 67-66. The Wizards would go back in front 70-69 with Wall hitting a pair of free throws and racing down the court for a slam.
The Pelicans would later go up four before the Wizards answered with a put-back by Porter and a steal and dunk by Wall that tied the game at 76.
The Wizards headed into the final quarter trailing 83-80. Wall had 11 points in the third quarter.
4th quarter
A Jason Smith tip-in gave the Wizards a good start in the final quarter.
Trey Burke protected the rim.
After the Pelicans grabbed the lead on a three by Tyreke Evans to go up 91-90 with 5:50 to go, the Wizards answered by closing the game on a 15-0 run. That’s right, the Wizards defense allowed ZERO points the rest of the way.
Wall was a big contributor in this run and showed why he should be taken into consideration for being voted league MVP.
First, an alley-oop to Morris for the slam.
Then, a steal and a rush down the court for the finger roll.
Walls emotions, matched our emotions (except for mine since there’s some rule where I can’t cheer in the press box)
Finally there came a dagger from Markieff Morris.
The Wizards won 105-91 for their 17th consecutive win at Verizon Center and their seventh straight win overall.
#WizPelicans in a Tweet
The Game’s Top Performer
John Wall – 24 points, 13 assists, 5 steals
The #WallStar went off tonight, particularly late in the game. During the Wizards 15-0 run to close out the game, Wall had six points but not without some highlight reel worthy plays.
“John Wall controlled the whole game. That’s that. He controlled the whole game. You know you don’t score in the last five, six minutes of the game there is a good probability you’re going to lose the game.” — Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry.
A forgettable night for..
Anthony Davis.
While it was a memorable first three quarters for him, scoring 25, the Wizards defense held Davis in the final frame to ZERO points.
“Gortat did a great job. He had a lot of good plays tonight in contesting Davis’ shot but he made them..those are the one’s you can’t do anything about but I thought he did a good job throughout the game, especially in that fourth quarter,” said head coach Scott Brooks.
Key Stat of the Night
Marcin Gortat – 17 rebounds
It was Polish Heritage Night at the Wizards game so I can’t go an entire game story without mentioning the real star of the show, Marcin Gortat. The fans from Poland got their money’s worth. In addition to that big dunk early in the game along with 12 points, the Polish Machine had 17 rebounds. 13 of those boards came defensively.
“It’s always great. He accepts the challenge every time he has a big name come in here just like everybody else. He did a terrific job in front of his fans, in front of his hometown. It’s always great to be able to have that support system being you,” Bradley Beal said. “He was really hype about it. It’s great that he continues to be big for us on the boards and on the offensive end too.”
What’s next?
The Wizards take on the Cavaliers on Monday night with tipoff at 7 PM. John Wall told CSN’s Chris Miller that it’s the biggest game of his career, “It’s on.”
“I’ve played in some big games before but I don’t think one bigger than this one. They’re a team that’s been playing okay but they’re defending champs. We know they’re a team we have to chase in the east. We have a great home streak going on and there’s going to be a packed crowd with a lot of people here. It’s going to be on (national) TV, so it’s going to be an important game for us,” said Wall.
Box Score:
