NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Daniel Gafford had a season-high 21 points to go with 12 rebounds and five blocked shots, and the Washington Wizards beat the reeling New Orleans Pelicans 113-103 on Saturday night for their fifth straight victory.
“No matter what, I just kept playing,” said Gafford, whose production helped mitigate the absence of 7-foot-3 star Kristaps Porzingis, who missed his third straight game with an ankle injury. “We’ve got KP out. So, really just stepping up was the main thing on my mind … just locking in and being able to play physical throughout the full game.”
Bradley Beal scored nine of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and Deni Avdija scored 13 for Washington, which also won its fourth straight on the road while sending New Orleans to its seventh straight loss overall.
“The beauty of it is we’re constantly building on the game before,” Beal said of the winning streak. “We’re not getting tired of doing the right things.”
Washington led most of the game and by as many as 16 points when Kendrick Nunn’s driving layup made it 96-80 with 8:16 to go.
The Pelicans briefly seized momentum with a 10-0 run that included Brandon Ingram’s fadeaway and Herb Jones’ breakaway dunk.
It looked as if New Orleans was going to have a chance to pull within three when officials called a foul on Washington during Jose Alvarado’s drive to the hoop. But the Wizards challenged the call and it was overturned. Moments later, Beal hit a pullup as he was fouled by Ingram and completed the three-point play to make it 100-92.
The Pelicans did not threaten again.
“Fourth quarter, coach just told me to be aggressive and attack and that’s what I did,” Beal said.
Corey Kispert and Nunn each scored 12 for Washington, while Kyle Kuzma added 10 points and won teammates’ praise for his defensive on Ingram, who scored 22 points but made just 8 of 22 shots.
CJ McCollum scored 24 points for the Pelicans, whose string of losses has “kind of jolted us in a negative way,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said.
“We’ll get back to playing our style and playing with joy,” Green said. “Right now, like I told our team, nobody’s going to rescue you. We have to be a part of our own rescue.”
New Orleans played most of the game without top rebounder Jonas Valanciunas. He was ejected after a his elbow struck Taj Gibson in the head as the Pelicans center made a move toward the basket. Valanciunas indicated that contact was inadvertent, but officials…
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