Wizards shut down Davis, pound Pelicans 109-89

The Washington Wizards did everything on Tuesday the defenceless Detroit Pistons were unable to do, just 48 hours earlier, to stop Anthony Davis from going off again.
Marcin Gortat had 21 points with 11 rebounds, while John Wall collected 16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his second triple-double of the season, leading the Wizards to a 109-89 rout of the visiting New Orleans Pelicans.
In his first game since torching the Pistons with a masterful NBA season-best 59 points to go along with 20 rebounds in Sunday’s 111-106 victory, Davis was never able to get going.
The two-time All-Star power forward finished with just nine points on 3-of-9 shooting, but managed to grab another 20 boards.
“They decided to double-team me, deny me the ball a lot,” Davis said. “We knew they were going to try to do that and we needed to have other guys play off that to free me up. They did a good job defensively.”
The Wizards were locked in on Davis from the start.
“We were just focusing our whole defence against him,” Gortat said. “We tried to make sure somebody else was going to beat us today.
“We know he’s a very talented, skilled player, and we just wanted to make him feel uncomfortable in everything he was doing.”
Jared Dudley drilled six triples en route to 18 points for Washington (27-29), which used a dominant 31-14 third quarter en route to its third win in four decisions.
Ahead by three at halftime, the Wizards started the second half with a 14-0 burst behind three Dudley triples and another by Wall to open up a 69-51 cushion with 7:42 left in the period.
Washington carried an 85-65 cushion into the final frame and cruised to its season-high fourth straight home win.
“In the third quarter we just let the game get away and were never able to get it back under control,” New Orleans head coach Alvin Gentry said. “A couple of turnovers here and there and they followed it up with three-point shots.
“From there they had separation and we never really got into a rhythm. Part of it was us and part of it was they did a good job defensively.”
Jrue Holiday paced the Pelicans (22-34)with 20 points and Ryan Anderson followed with 16 in the loss.

Elsewhere
Sacramento Kings 114, Denver Nuggets 110: DeMarcus Cousins powered for 39 points, including the go-ahead free throws with 48.3 seconds left, added a layup and stripped Darrell Arthur of the ball in the closing seconds, as the visiting Kings (24-31) escaped the Nuggets. Reserve Will Barton scored 18 points for Denver (22-35), which came up short after erasing a 17-point deficit.
Utah Jazz 117, Houston Rockets 114 (OT): Gordon Hayward scored 28 points, Derrick Favors had 19 with 12 rebounds and a key basket with 11.8 seconds left in overtime, and the Jazz (28-28) withstood James Harden’s 42-point effort to beat the visiting Rockets (28-29) for a seventh straight home win.
Portland Trail Blazers 112, Brooklyn Nets 104: Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum fired in 34 points apiece, shooting the surging Trail Blazers past the stubborn Nets for their season-high sixth straight win. The Trail Blazers (30-27) blew a 19-point third-quarter lead and were knotted at 101-apiece. But McCollum and Lillard buried back-to-back triples to open up a seven-point lead with 1:25 left, and Portland pulled away for its 11th win in the last 12 outings. Brook Lopez wasted a season-high 36 points for Brooklyn (15-42), which dropped the opener of its grueling nine-game road trip.
Orlando Magic 124, Philadelphia 76ers 115: Nikola Vucevic scored a season-high 35 points to pace a balanced attack and the visiting Magic (25-30) sent the league-worst Sixers (8-48) to their fifth straight loss and 10 in the last 12. Victor Oladipo had 22 points for Orlando, while Frenchman Evan Fournier added 21. Ish Smith topped Philadelphia with 22 points.