When the New Orleans Pelicans lost to the Hawks on Wednesday night, four-time All-Star guard Trae Young was sitting in street clothes on Atlanta’s bench. When the Pelicans face Washington on Friday night, they could see Young again, but on the Wizards.
The biggest news regarding Friday night’s Pelicans-Wizards matchup involves a player who won’t be on the court. Washington acquired Young from Atlanta on Wednesday evening for veterans CJ McCollum, the Wizards’ leading scorer, and Corey Kispert, according to multiple reports.
The reports came out as both teams were losing. The Pelicans dropped their game against Atlanta 117-100, while the short-handed Wizards fell on the road to the Philadelphia 76ers 131-110.
Rookie Tre Johnson paced Washington with 20 points, while Bub Carrington and Bilal Coulibaly each added 18. Those three, along with Kyshawn George and Alex Sarr, represent the core of Washington’s future. Each of those players is 22 or younger.
Adding Young, the dynamic playmaker who has led the NBA in total assists (4,837) since entering the league in the 2018-19 season, is a low-risk situation for a franchise that has reached the postseason just once in the past seven years.
Washington, which totaled 33 victories in the past two seasons, got off to yet another inglorious start to this campaign, losing 15 of 16.
However, the team has gone 9-11 since, including five wins in their last eight games — their best stretch yet.
“I think we were showing at times early in the year flashes of playing pretty good,” Wizards coach Brian Keefe said in a recent interview with The Athletic. “We’re focusing on just straight winning plays. We’re preaching to everyone, ‘Block out your other agendas, block out all the things that don’t really matter. Let’s just focus on winning the ballgame. Let’s focus on being the best Wizards we can be.’ And it’s been working well for us.”
The 10-win Wizards are showing some life, while the flailing eight-win Pelicans have lost nine in a row. This is the team’s fourth losing streak of six games or more, and the second time they have suffered nine consecutive defeats this season.
The streak continued with Wednesday night’s loss in Atlanta. Zion Williamson led the way for New Orleans with 22 points, eight rebounds and six assists, followed by Jordan Poole with 21 points and Bryce McGowens with 20.
While the Hawks made 18 treys, New Orleans shot just 28.6% (8-for-28) from 3-point range and also committed 19 turnovers in their fourth straight road loss.
“The turnovers were the issue for me,” Pelicans’ interim head coach James Borrego said. “Too many turnovers. The spacing has got to be better. Decision-making has got to be better. Execution has to be better. All those facets have to be better to not turn it over.”
