The Washington Wizards took the court Wednesday night for their second out of seven preseason games. This time, they faced the New Orleans Pelicans in Jacksonville, Florida. The Wizards started the game slow, but were able to rally in the fourth quarter to pull off a 94-89 victory.
Five Wizards scored in double figures, including starters John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Nene. Wall looked much better than he did in the first preseason game against Chicago, where he seemed to be just going through the motions a bit. He finished with 14 points (5-10 FG), 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and a steal in 23 minutes of action. However, he did finish with an ugly 9 turnovers. Otto Porter and Glen Rice played well again, especially in the fourth quarter. Porter finished with 12 points (4-5 FG) and 5 rebounds while Rice had 9 points and 7 rebounds. Kevin Seraphin added 11 points off the bench.
As for the Wizards new acquisitions, Pierce and Blair looked solid while Humphries did not play. Paul Pierce started and played 21 minutes, finishing with 4 points (2-6 FG), 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 blocks. Blair played hard inside, scoring 6 points (3-6 FG) and grabbing 5 rebounds, but fouled out of the game in just 18 minutes.
All in all there were definitely some good things we saw. Wall seemed to be getting into a bit more of a rhythm, despite the 9 turnovers. Pierce played a nice all-around game. Porter and Rice continued to look good off the bench which will be important when the regular season rolls around after the loss of Trevor Ariza in costless agency
The Wizards take the court again on Thursday 10/10 against the Charlotte Bobcats. As always, we will have your recap right here on VAVEL USA.