Washington Wizards Start Fast, Fade Quickly, Trail New Orleans Pelicans at Halftime
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Washington Wizards (3-19) played host to the visiting New Orleans Pelicans (13-11) on Wednesday night and got some good news before the game ever got started.
Ahead of the contest, the Wizards confirmed center Daniel Gafford would be active for the game while the Pelicans were going to have to take the floor without forward Zion Williamson due to an ankle injury.
The hope for Washington was that the availability of Gafford would help the team compete against a stout paint squad from New Orleans. And that's exactly what happened early on.
The Pelicans secured the opening tip and eventually worked their first possession into the paint and it ended with forward Herb Jones' shot at the rim getting blocked by Gafford.
From there, the Wizards got out and running on their own first possession and it ended with Gafford finishing at the opposite rim thanks to his effort and a well-timed pass from forward Deni Avdija.
As it turns out, it was just the beginning of a strong start to the game as Washington raced out to an 18-4 lead over New Orleans at the first timeout.
On top of the strong start by Gafford forwards Kyle Kuzma and Deni Avdija got off to a fast start combining to score 18 of the Wizards' 23 points, grabbing six rebounds, and assisting on three buckets in the first six minutes.
Things got a little loose for Washington toward the end of the first quarter, however, and three turnovers coupled with some bad clock management and low-percentage shot attempts allowed the Pelicans to close the gap resulting in just a two-point lead at the end of the period.
Members of the Washington Wizards Dancers dance during a timeout against the Dallas Mavericks in the second quarter at Capital One Arena.
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In the final six minutes of the first quarter the Wizards had zero assists and four turnovers, but got the second started with two assists leading to five quick points.
Guard Jared Butler came off the bench and helped spark a lot of the early action but New Orleans answered with a pair of three-point shots from guard CJ McCollum to trim the lead to one.
While Washington aimed to control the paint the Pelicans opted to spread the floor and started draining one three-point shot after another. By the time we got midway through the second quarter New Orleans drained six three-pointers its way to a 54-44 lead with six minutes left in the first half.
From there the half evened out a bit and the Wizards were able to get back to some of the team-centric play that earned them the early lead in the first place.
It wasn't enough to recapture a first-half lead, and despite Kuzma's 23 points the Wizards entered halftime trailing the Pelicans - led by forward Brandon Ingram's 26 point performance - 75-64.
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