Preview: Wizards play the Pelicans on Saturday

Jan 28, 2023 - 1:00 AM

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Game Info

When: Saturday, January 28 at 8 p.m. ET

Where: Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA

How to watch: NBC Sports Washington

Injuries

WIZARDS— Monte Morris, DAY-TO-DAY (hamstring); Kristaps Porzingis, OUT (ankle)

PELICANS— Dyson Daniels, OUT (ankle); Zion Williamson, OUT (hamstring); E.J. Liddell, OUT (knee)

Pregame Notes

In this five-game road trip, Washington is currently 2-0 winning both games against the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets. Now Washington will be in the state of Louisiana facing the New Orleans Pelicans again for the second time this month. In the last meeting, the Wizards were blown out by the Pelicans, 132-112, as New Orleans was without leading scorer Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. Washington didn’t have Bradley Beal in the last meeting either.

Now Washington will be without Kristaps Porzingis, while the Pelicans will still be without Williamson but have Ingram back. The Wizards have been depending heavily on Kyle Kuzma who has been their major scorer getting the necessary buckets. In his last two games, Kuzma has averaged 31.5 points per game. The problem remains that without Porzingis’ scoring and Beal playing but nursing his hamstring, someone else has to score big for the team. It doesn’t help they traded away Rui Hachimura, who was a big help off the bench.

Someone to look out for is Kendrick Nunn, who in his first game with the Wizards had 12 points, four rebounds and four assists off the bench. Nunn was part of the trade that sent Hachimura to the Los Angeles Lakers. What he can consistently do will be on everyone’s radar as the bench now needs some serious help in scoring.