The Pelicans once again struggled down the stretch, blowing a nine-point fourth-quarter lead to fall in overtime to the Wizards, 117-115.
While there were four lead changes on the night, it was a back-and-forth contest in some sense. The Pelicans led from the opening tip to the 1:27 mark of the first quarter. From there, the Wizards took the lead and extended it to as many as 13 points at 49-36 in the second period.
New Orleans, cut the lead down to a point by halftime even despite Zion Williamson being forced to the bench with foul trouble in the first half. After keeping the lead at five points or less through the opening half of the third period, New Orleans took the lead on a Steven Adams hook shot and didn’t look back themselves.
The Pelicans built up a lead as big as nine points in the fourth before the Wizards rallied. Russell Westbrook tied the game with 1:07 left as the Pelicans went 1-for-13 down the stretch from the field to eventually send the game to overtime.
In overtime, Westbrook took over with 10 points, including the clinching free throws with 1.9 seconds left after Williamson fouled him on the potential game-winning jumper. Ingram’s heave from half-court came up just short.