Pelicans hold off the Wizards 107-106 to close the preseason 3-1
Saddiq Bey scored 19 points off the bench on Friday night, Oct. 16, New Orleans built an 11-point lead through three quarters at the Smoothie King Center, and the Pelicans survived a 36-point Washington fourth quarter to win their preseason finale 107-106.
NEW ORLEANS: The Pelicans closed their preseason schedule the hard way on Friday night, Oct. 16, building an 11-point lead through three quarters at the Smoothie King Center and then holding on for a 107-106 win over the Washington Wizards.
New Orleans led 23-17 after one quarter, 56-51 at halftime and 81-70 through three, before Washington outscored the Pelicans 36-26 in the fourth to pull within a point at the final horn. Crescent City Sports, the Hoops Nightly box score and the Sportradar box score all carried the same quarter scores and the same 107-106 final.
The win finishes the exhibition schedule at 3-1 for New Orleans, according to Crescent City Sports, and follows a 101-97 win at Dallas on Wednesday, giving the Pelicans consecutive wins to close the preseason.
Bey and the bench carry the scoring
Saddiq Bey led all scorers with 19 points off the bench, shooting 7 of 11 from the field and making three 3-pointers, according to Crescent City Sports and Hoops Nightly. Rookie guard Jeremiah Fears added 14 points and five assists, Trey Murphy III and Zion Williamson scored 11 points apiece, and Bennedict Mathurin added 10 off the bench.
Rookie center Derik Queen scored only two points but added seven rebounds and five assists, the same line in both the Crescent City Sports report and the Hoops Nightly box score. As a team, New Orleans outscored Washington 62-42 in the paint and got 60 bench points to 47 for the Wizards, finished with 28 assists to 21, recorded 15 steals and forced 23 Washington turnovers, according to Hoops Nightly, with the steals, assists and turnovers also carried by Crescent City Sports.
The shooting from distance was the cold spot. Crescent City Sports reported that the Pelicans made just seven of 36 attempts from beyond the arc, a figure the Hoops Nightly team comparison also carried.
Washington falls a point short
Anthony Davis led the Wizards comeback with 14 points and 11 rebounds, Kyshawn George also scored 14, and Alex Sarr added 12 points and nine rebounds, according to Crescent City Sports and Hoops Nightly.
Washington also lost its top draft pick during the game. Rookie AJ Dybantsa scored 12 points in 14 minutes before leaving in the first quarter after rolling an ankle on a landing, according to reports by ClutchPoints carried by Yardbarker, and Bullets Forever noted the same bad landing in its recap.
The games count from here. The Pelicans open the regular season at home against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, Oct. 21, at the Smoothie King Center, according to Crescent City Sports.
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