Takeaways from the New Orleans Pelicans’ 118-107 Win over the Wizards

The New Orleans Pelicans kept their slim chances alive with a win over Washington.

The New Orleans Pelicans needed a team effort to defeat the undermanned Washington Wizards, who were without their top three scorers.

The Pelicans started slowly again last night and it looked like we might see a repeat of the Kings’ game when the Wizards came out firing and making their shots.

The Pelicans were listless defensively again for most of the first half and needed a big third quarter from the bench to eventually secure the win.

It wasn’t the prettiest win in history, but it is a W, which is all that matters in the Pelicans’ desperation grasp at a playoff spot.

Here are three takeaways from the New Orleans Pelicans uninspiring win over Washington.

Another Slow Start

For a few minutes last night it looked like the Wizards had channelled the Kings. They came out and knocked down their first two 3-point shots, the Pelicans were playing with no energy and it looked like they might get smoked by a glorified G-League team.

The Pels gave up 32 points in the first quarter to a team missing its three top scorers. I guess this is progress considering they let up 49 first quarter points to the Kings, but the Pelicans need to show up ready to play defense.

This has been a bad habit in the bubble, as the Pels have gotten down early in every game so far. Part of this is being a young team that needs to learn how to prepare, but some of this has to be put on Gentry.

I am not usually one to point fingers at the coach, but when your defense continually fails to show up in the first quarter, something is not right.

The Pelicans will need to get out to a better start against San Antonio or they’ll spend the whole game chasing the Spurs.