The New Orleans Pelicans defeated the Washington Wizards, 133-126, at Smoothie King Center on Wednesday night.

The Pelicans (33-22) unsurprisingly checked into the night as home favorites, and they appeared well on their way to validating that status during a first half in which they compiled 68 points and built an eight-point lead. However, a resurgent Wizards (9-45) squad eliminated all but one point from their deficit in the third quarter and subsequently took a two-point lead with 5:30 remaining, but New Orleans' 20-11 run over the final 5:15 sealed the hard-fought home victory.

Deni Avdija led the Wizards with a 43-point, 14-rebound double-double that included three assists and one block. Corey Kispert delivered 20 points, six assists, four rebounds and one steal. Jordan Poole tallied 16 points, seven assists, five rebounds and three steals. Tyus Jones and Marvin Bagley produced matching 14-point contributions while recording 13 assists and 10 rebounds, respectively.

Zion Williamson paced the Pelicans with 36 points, supplementing them with eight assists, six rebounds and one block. CJ McCollum furnished 24 points, six assists, three rebounds and one steal. Brandon Ingram supplied 18 points, seven assists, three rebounds, two steals and one block. Naji Marshall went for 13 points, two rebounds, one assist and three steals. Jonas Valanciunas finished with 10 points, five rebounds, three assists and one block.

The Wizards return to action after the All-Star break with a Feb. 22 road matchup against the Denver Nuggets, while the Pelicans host the Houston Rockets in their first post-All-Star-break matchup on the same night.