NBA: Pelicans return to winning ways while Jazz win against Wizards

MCCOLLUM DROPS 40 ON SPURS AS PELICANS ROLL
Murray goes past the Pelicans defender

(Basketball news) The New Orleans Pelicans got back to winning ways as they beat the San Antonio Spurs 126-117. For the Pelicans, CJ McCollum scored a season-high 40 points as Jonas Valanciunas had 16 points and 10 rebounds despite Zion Williamson being scratched from the lineup because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols. For the Spurs, Jeremy Sochan scored a career-high 23 points while Tre Jones added 19 points and Josh Richardson had 14 points as the likes of Jakob Poeltl scored 13 points and Devin Vassell scored 10 points. With this result the Pelicans improved their record to 19-12 and are joint second in the Western Conference table.

”We needed that type of production from him with the guys being out,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said. ”It’s beautiful to watch when he’s on the floor and he’s scoring like he does.”

”McCollum dominated the game from the very beginning,” reserve center Willy Hernangomez said. ”I’m happy for CJ. He’s been really getting his rhythm back. Today was a big game for him. I’m happy to see him making shots and making the right decision over and over.”

”We’ll get down, figure it out, and then start playing,” Popovich said. ”We don’t have somebody like McCollum that’s going to come in and do what he did to us. We made it a decent game at that point and then he took over. He was great.”

”I am becoming more comfortable and confident,” Sochan said. ”I had career highs tonight but we still lost, so it doesn’t really matter.”

”Sometimes, like tonight, we come out slow on offense but we can’t let that affect our game,” Tre Jones said. ”We have to keep our defensive mentality especially when shots are not falling at the start of the game.

The Utah Jazz beat the Washington Wizards 120-112. For the Jazz, Malik Beasley scored 25 points and Jordan Clarkson added 23 points. For the Wizards, Bradley Beal scored 30 points and Kyle Kuzma had 21, but the Wizards lost for the 14th time in their last 16 games. The Wizards had lost 10 straight games before winning at Phoenix on Tuesday. Their defensive deficiencies returned as they allowed the Jazz to make 16-of-35 3-pointers, many of which were wide open due to slow rotations and weak closeouts. With this result the Jazz improved their record to 19-16.

”I was attacking the hole and not settling for 3s,” Beasley said. ”I think there are some times where I get complacent so I gotta keep attacking downhill.”

”We knew the kind of energy he would bring and he’s going to fire everybody else up as well,” Markkanen said of Sexton’s return.

”They were geared to get into Brad and make him play inside the line, tried to pressure his dribble,” Washington coach Wes Unseld Jr. said.

Also read: NBA: The Brooklyn Nets thrash the Warriors while Lakers lose again

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