NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Anthony Davis had 28 points and 15 rebounds as the New Orleans Pelicans stemmed a four-game slide with a 125-104 victory over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night.
Jrue Holiday scored 29 points and Julius Randle added 23 points and 12 rebounds for New Orleans, which appeared to benefit from Tim Frazier's insertion into the starting lineup at point guard with Holiday sliding over to shooting guard.
Frazier had 12 points and 12 assists in his third start of the season. Nikola Mirotic added 15 points and nine rebounds.
Kelly Oubre Jr. and Markieff Morris each scored 22 for the Wizards, who trailed by 20 at halftime and never got closer than 11 in the second half.
John Wall added 17 points, while Bradley Beal had 16 points and 11 assists for Washington, which struggled to match the Pelicans' presence under the basket.
New Orleans outrebounded Washington 64-38 and turned 17 offensive rebounds into 28 second-chance points. The Pelicans also outscored Washington 62-38 in the paint.
Disturbed by disjointed offense and a spate of turnovers during a recent four-game skid, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry tweaked his starting lineup.
The move began paying dividends early. Holiday, who had eight turnovers while playing point guard in a loss to Boston on Monday night, had 16 points and one turnover in the first half against Washington.
Meanwhile, the Pelicans picked up their tempo and looked more fluid. Even with Davis starting 3 of 10 for nine points in the first half, New Orleans dominated and opened up a 20-point lead.
The Pelicans closed the first half on a 21-7 run, which began with Frazier's transition layup and 3-pointer. Later, Holiday pounced on a deflected ball at the top of the key and immediately floated it down the lane to where Davis could convert an alley-oop layup off the glass.
Randle closed out the run with a layup as he was fouled and a tip-in of Darius Miller's missed 3, making it 67-47 at halftime.
TIP-INS
Wizards: Lost to New Orleans for the first time in seven meetings and only the second time in 15. ... Wall was assessed a technical foul late in the third quarter for bickering with officials after he was called for a hack on Holiday's transition layup attempt. ... Jeff Green had 10 points.
Pelicans: Mirotic is 14 of 28 from 3-point range in his last four games after going 3 of 8 against Washington. ... New Orleans improved to 9-2 at home, but plays its next two on the road, where the Pelicans are 2-9. ... The Pelicans still wound up with 20 total turnovers, down only two from the loss to Boston, but their scoring was up and they largely controlled the game while also forcing 16 Wizards turnovers.
UP NEXT
Wizards: Visit Philadelphia on Friday night.
Pelicans: Visit Miami on Friday night.
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