Washington Wizards @ New Orleans Pelicans
Friday, January 3, 2025 at 8:00 PM ET
Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA | Game ID: 22400472
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
NOP 29 33 35 35 132WAS 37 31 29 23 120
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
McCollum's 50 points helps the Pelicans snap an 11-game skid with a 132-120 win over the Wizards
NEW ORLEANS -- — CJ McCollum highlighted a career high-tying 50 points with 10 3-pointers, and the New Orleans Pelicans snapped an 11-game losing streak with a 132-120 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.
Trey Murphy scored 17 and rookie center Yves Missi had 12 point and 11 rebounds for New Orleans, which won for just the second time in 22 games.
The Pelicans have the NBA's worst record at 6-29, but now share with Washington (6-26) the dubious distinction of having the fewest victories in the league.
New Orleans was playing at home for the first time since a deadly New Year’s Day attack in the French Quarter, and a moment of silence was held before tipoff.
Jordan Poole scored 24 points for the Wizards but was affected by a hard fall under the basket with 4:38 left in the third quarter. He scored just five more points after the fall, which sent him to the locker room briefly for treatment for lower back soreness.
Rookie center Alexandre Sarr scored 19 for Washington.
Takeaways Wizards: The Wizards scored a season-high 72 points in the paint, only to have it virtually negated by shaky outside shooting and porous defense that allowed New Orleans a season high in points.
Pelicans: New Orleans benefitted from the return from injury (right hamstring strain) of reserve guard Jose Alvarado , who contributed 5 points, 3 assists and 3 steals in 20 minutes after missing 23 games.
Key Moment McCollum had his toe on the 3-point line when he hit a 21-foot jumper to give New Orleans a 128-111 lead. It was initially ruled a 3, which would have given him a career high in points and tied his franchise high of 11 made 3s. But it was reduced to a 2-point shot on video review.
Key stat The Pelicans tied a season high with 18 made 3s, going 18 of 41.
Up next The Pelicans visit the Wizards on Sunday night.
WAS KarmaHide StintsShow StintsHide PMShow PMHide KarmaShow KarmaHide ScoresShow Scores
Who
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
WASAS A. Sarr
BC B. Carrington
CK C. Kispert
JB J. Butler
JC J. Champagnie
JP J. Poole
JV J. Valančiūnas
KG K. George
KK K. Kuzma
MB M. Brogdon
PB P. Baldwin Jr.
NOPBB B. Boston
CM C. McCollum
DM D. Murray
DT D. Theis
HJ H. Jones
JA J. Alvarado
JH J. Hawkins
JR J. Robinson-Earl
TM T. Murphy III
YM Y. Missi
WAS/NOP the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur