The New Orleans Pelicans let the Washington Wizards hang around a little bit too long for comfort, but did end up with a 138-118 victory on Sunday night.
The Pelicans now improve to 21-45, which matches the win total from last season. They can now use the final 16 games as a chance to really put some separation from last year's woes and, more importantly, continue to hurt the Atlanta Hawks' odds to get a top-four pick from them.
This game could have gotten ugly in the first half if New Orleans hadn't ended up shooting 36 free throws in the first two quarters. The Wizards got hot from three early and the Pelicans were not.
Washington was 10-of-24 from deep in the first half, but then shot just 4-for-18 after that. That's when New Orleans was able to pull away, though they never got hot from three, finishing 7-of-23 on the day.
Trey Murphy was 4-for-9 from deep, which was the only reason that their team's efficiency was even that high. Murphy also left the game early, with an arm issue that caused him to head back to the locker room. He would eventually join the team back on the bench, though.
It's unclear at this point if it will be something that ends up costing him playing time. He did miss a few games recently with that shoulder injury, which could have been reaggravated. James Borrego doesn't believe so, stating after the game that he believed it was "just a stinger."
Dejounte Murray continues to look solid in his return from the Achilles injury. He had a season-high 19 points to go along with six rebounds, two assists and two steals in 24 minutes of play. The improvement on offense is extremely promising, as he has already looked good on defense.
The rookies also did well in their minutes. In a rare sight, Derik Queen led the team with a +17. Jeremiah Fears had 18 points, five rebounds and seven assists.
The Pelicans will stay home for their next game as well, on Wednesday night against the Toronto Raptors.