McCollum gets 40 to propel Pelicans past the Spurs
CJ McCollum scored a season-high 40 points and the New Orleans Pelicans beat the San Antonio Spurs 126-117 on Thursday night to end their four-game losing streak.
Jonas Valanciunas had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Pelicans, who won despite Zion Williamson being scratched from the lineup because of the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
The Pelicans made 13 3-pointers. McCollum hit seven from deep, and his first gave New Orleans the lead for good at 3-2 in the opening minutes.
The Pelicans led by as many as 23 points and opened the fourth quarter with a 19-point lead. The Spurs got back in the game with a 10-0 run fueled by Stanley Johnson, who scored nine of his 12 points in the final period.
McCollum, however, almost single-handedly kept the Spurs at bay. His floater off the glass was the first of his 19 points in a pivotal seven-minute stretch. The individual scoring outburst included four 3s — one while McCollum was fouled for a 4-point play.
The last of McCollum’s 3s made it 119-106 with 3:31 to go. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich subbed out his entire lineup moments later, and the Pelicans remained comfortably ahead after that.
Jeremy Sochan scored a career-high 23 points for San Antonio. Tre Jones added 19 points and Josh Richardson had 14.
The Pelicans missed their first nine shots from close range but hit four of their six 3-point attempts — with McCollum making three — to take a 12-2 lead.
By the end of the first quarter, the Pelicans had made six 3s, the last of those by Devonte’ Graham putting New Orleans up 37-17.
The Pelicans led 65-46 at halftime.
JAZZ 120, WIZARDS 112 » Malik Beasley scored 25 points and Jordan Clarkson added 23 to power host Utah. Lauri Markkanen had 21 points and Collin Sexton returned from missing seven games with a right hamstring injury to finish with 18 while playing just 17 minutes due to a medical minutes restriction.
Bradley Beal scored 30 points and Kyle Kuzma had 21, but the Wizards lost for the 14th time in their last 16 games.
Beal scored Washington’s first 12 points of the fourth quarter but the Wizards couldn’t stop the Jazz. The Wizards fell to 2-8 when Beal is their leading scorer.
The Jazz scored 13 consecutive points bridging the third and fourth quarters, highlighted by a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Sexton and capped by Nickeil Walker-Alexander’s 3 off an offensive rebound.
The surge resulted in the first double-digit lead by either team after 23 lead changes and 11 ties. The span was bolstered by tight defense and increased effort after three quarters of little resistance by the Jazz.
The Wizards had lost 10 straight games before winning at Phoenix on Tuesday.
Luke Kennard should be leading the league in 3-pointers. But he’s not.
That’s because the Clippers’ guard doesn’t shoot enough compared to the league’s best. For instance, Stephen Curry has attempted 11.6 3-pointers per game and has sunk 131; also, he is shooting 43.4% from deep, which ranks 12th in the NBA.
Kennard, whose 48.9% long-range accuracy is the best in the league, fires just 4.2 3-pointers a game and has a habit of passing up more shots than he should, according to his coach.
“He doesn’t want to be selfish,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “I’m not saying other guys are selfish, but like, if he takes two or three shots in a row, he’s probably looking to move it. So, when he’s on the floor, he has to take those shots.”
Lue was asked where Kennard, who is 43 of 88 from beyond the arc, would rank among the NBA’s premier shooters. He laughingly said 10th out of 10.
SACRAMENTO » As he has a handful of times through the Lakers’ recent rough stretch, Lonnie Walker was kicking himself on Wednesday night.
He lamented his start to the third quarter, a stretch that took less than three minutes but saw him give up four baskets, three of which were right at the rim. Twice, Walker was back-cut: first by Kevin Huerter, then De’Aaron Fox.
“I kind of let them alone, myself, get on like an 8-0 run,” he said. “Going under 3s and backdoor cuts, not being the mid guy. So I just got to be more prepared, play a lot harder, play a lot stronger, play a lot tougher.”
Walker — and the rest of the Lakers — are also learning how much harder defense is without Anthony Davis.
After starting the season looking like one of the league’s best defenses, the Lakers have since reverted: At the moment, they’re 18th in defensive rating (112.7) for the season, a far cry from the elite unit they want to be. It’s not that shocking that the