Wizards edge Pelicans in overtime for third straight win originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Washington Wizards beat the New Orleans Pelicans 117-115 in overtime on Friday night. Here are five takeaways from what went down...
Good sign
We're making it easier for you to find stories that matter with our new newsletter — The 4Front. Sign up here and get news that is important for you to your inbox.
If the Wizards are to make the play-in tournament when this regular season runs out, they will have to win a lot of games just like the one they won on Friday night. They were at home against a middling 25-31 Pelicans team, the exact type of opponent they have lost to far too many times this season. Most of their remaining 17 games are against teams with losing records.
The Wizards, though, were able to come back and beat New Orleans in a wild game that saw them go up by 13, then down by nine, only to storm back in the closing minutes thanks in large part to the defense of Daniel Gafford. He dominated the paint, rejecting shots by Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson in a heroic effort that was one of the better defensive performances by a Wizards player in years.
That's not hyperbole, either. When is the last time a Wizards big man had an extended string of blocks to change a game in the final minutes? It was rare stuff and another excellent omen for his future with this team.
The Wizards have now won five of their last six games and sit 22-33 on the season.
Gafford balled out
Gafford has a knack for very quickly changing games. Yet again he came in and gave the Wizards an immediate jolt of energy with his speed from baseline to baseline and his activity around the rim. He got the Wizards going midway through the first quarter with a big dunk and a block on Williamson.
Gafford had seven points on 3-for-3 shooting in his first two minutes and by halftime had 13 points in just over seven minutes. Still playing on a minutes restriction, he ended up with 18 points and seven rebounds and four blocks in 26 minutes of action.
Gafford's impact was especially noticeable given the opponent, as the Wizards finally had a big man athletic enough to play above the rim with Williamson and Jaxson Hayes. There have been so many games in recent years where the Wizards have had trouble with athletic bigs, but now they have one of their own to counter.
Bertans was out
The Wizards were without sharpshooter Davis Bertans, who sat out due to personal reasons. Head coach Scott Brooks did not specify what it was exactly, which is not surprising, and it's unclear how long he will be out. Given they are in a back-to-back, it would seem likely his status for Saturday is at least somewhat in doubt.
Bertans has been playing well lately amid what has been an up-and-down season for him. In his last six games since returning from injury, he's shooting 50 percent from three on 7.7 attempts per game. However long this absence is, the Wizards will have to hope it doesn't take away his shooting rhythm. Without Bertans, they had a predictably tough night from three, going 4-for-27 as a team.
Ingram went off
While the Wizards are better suited now to face athletic big men, they had no answer for Pelicans All-Star Brandon Ingram who tore them up with his ability to shoot from the outside and drive past slower big men on his way to the rim. He had 34 points in the game, including 24 by halftime.
Ingram also added seven rebounds, five assists and four steals. With Bertans out, Isaac Bonga got some meaningful minutes, but he couldn't slow Ingram down. Ingram, by the way, is averaging career-highs in points (24.1/g) and effective field goal percentage (53.6) this season and he's only 23.
Zion vs. Rui
This was just the second time the Wizards have faced Williamson, which meant one of the first meetings between him and Rui Hachimura, another top-10 pick from the same 2019 draft class. Though Williamson missed much of the first half after picking up his third foul in just 10 minutes of play, while he was out there he squared off with Hachimura often on both ends of the floor.
Williamson ended up having the better night with 21 points and six rebounds. Hachimura had six points and shot just 3-for-13. In his six games since returning from right shoulder tightness, Hachimura is averaging just 9.8 points.
