The New Orleans Pelicans turned around a slow first half with strong defensive showing in the third quarter to down the Washington Wizards, 118-107.
Jrue Holiday had a team-high 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting but it was the Pelicans’ bench, which scored 44 points, that pushed New Orleans to a victory.
The Good: Second-half defense
After a slow start to the game, the Pelicans came out in the third quarter and turned to a full-court defense to turn the game around. The result was a huge run that turned a halftime deficit into a double-digit lead.
New Orleans outscored Washington 37-25 in the third period and grabbed control of the game by completely derailed the Wizards’ offense. Interestingly, it was the Pelicans bench that made the biggest impact as Frank Jackson and Nicolo Melli provided the biggest sparks. Jackson finished with 13 points and had a team-best plus-minus of +30 in 20 minutes and Melli had 10 points and was second in plus-minus at +18.
The third quarter is what turned another potential frustrating and embarrassing loss to a double-digit win.
Honorable mentions: Jrue Holiday, Josh Hart, Derrick Favors’ second half