3 reasons the Pacers fell to the Pelicans despite Duane Washington Jr.'s career night

NEW ORLEANS – After missing the past two games due to a sore right calf, Caris LeVert returned to the starting lineup for the Pacers on Monday night at New Orleans. The last time LeVert was on the court, he scored a regular-season franchise record 22 points in the fourth quarter against the Lakers last week, but this time around Duane Washington Jr. stole the show down the stretch.

The undrafted rookie caught fire in the fourth quarter, but in a back-and-forth contest it was New Orleans who left the Smoothie King Center with a 117-113 victory. Here’s what stood out:

Duane Washington Jr. gets hot

Indiana has struggled from behind the arc all season.

Nobody told Washington.

The 6-3 guard shot 7-of-12 on 3-pointers, setting a new franchise single-game rookie record for made 3s. He drained back-to-back 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to put Indiana (17-31) ahead 95-92 with 7:05 remaining. However, the Pelicans (18-28) responded with a 9-0 run to reclaim the lead and hold on for a win without All-Star forward Brandon Ingram (right ankle sprain).

Washington scored all of his career-high 21 points from long distance, highlighted by 12 in the final frame, and bounced back from a scoreless 0-for-4 shooting performance in a loss at Phoenix on Saturday.

"I had a great practice (Sunday). Just analyzed the 0-for-4, learned from it, forgot about it," Washington said. "This is the NBA. Something that I've been getting accustomed to is that everything is really, really fast. Everything happens fast. Game after game, a 10-day road trip. So for me, I just canceled everything else out, had a good day in practice (Sunday) and just carry it over to (Monday) and performed."

LeVert got in on the action, too, making a 3-pointer to cut New Orleans’ lead to 111-108 with 20.0 seconds left and another 3 to pull Indiana within two points with 2.0 seconds remaining. But Nickeil Alexander-Walker made a pair of free throws on the ensuing possession to shut the door on a comeback.

LeVert finished with 19 points on 8-for-21 shooting.

"I felt all right," LeVert said of his return. "You know how it is when you take some games off. The rhythm of the game is everything in the NBA, so it was little shaky at times, but I pushed through it."

Devonte' Graham carries the load

Pelicans guard Devonte’ Graham nearly matched Washington's big night from behind the arc. The former Kansas star shot 5-for-9 on 3-pointers while the rest of his teammates shot a combined 1-for-21. Graham poured in a game-high 25 points, including eight in the final frame.

He has had made multiple 3s in five straight contests.

"I just let it fly with confidence," Graham said, per the AP's Brett Martel. "My coaching staff and everybody's got confidence in me and I just take those shots — and thank God, they go in."

Points in the paint

Despite the Pelicans' 3-point shooting woes, they were able to exploit the absences of Indiana’s starting frontcourt Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner and dominated the interior. New Orleans outscored the Pacers 64-32 in the paint and erupted for 38 points in the paint in the first half.

Jonas Valanciunas totaled 16 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for his 32nd double-double of the season. Josh Hart notched a double-double as well with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

Third-year Pacers center Goga Bitadze had 12 points, five rebounds and three assists in his third consecutive start. He was whistled for five fouls in 22 minutes, including two fouls on Valanciunas in the first quarter.

"I thought that Goga (Monday) did a good job," Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. "It's a tough thing guarding Valanciunas from the very beginning of the game. We knew that fouls were probably gonna be an issue in the game. He made some nice adjustments, and there's no substitute for the experience you get of actually playing in NBA games. You can talk about player development and being in the gym and working hard, doing all of that stuff, but it really comes down to how much experience you can get."

More: Pacers sign Stephenson to another 10-day contract

New Orleans 117, Indiana 113

INDIANA (113): Craig 5-8 0-0 13, Holiday 3-8 2-2 8, Bitadze 4-7 4-6 12, Duarte 4-11 4-4 14, LeVert 8-21 0-2 19, Jackson 2-4 2-2 6, Stephenson 2-6 1-2 7, Lamb 2-5 2-2 7, Brissett 1-5 3-5 6, Washington Jr. 7-12 0-0 21. Totals 38-87 18-25 113.

NEW ORLEANS (117): Jones 4-9 1-2 9, Temple 6-13 2-2 14, Valanciunas 6-11 4-5 16, Graham 8-14 4-4 25, Hart 6-11 9-9 22, Clark 0-4 0-0 0, Hayes 6-10 2-2 14, Alexander-Walker 4-13 6-6 14, Alvarado 1-4 1-1 3. Totals 41-89 29-31 117.

Indiana 32 30 17 34 — 113

New Orleans 31 30 22 34 — 117

3-Point Goals—Indiana 19-46 (Washington Jr. 7-12, Craig 3-5, LeVert 3-6, Stephenson 2-4, Duarte 2-6, Brissett 1-4, Lamb 1-4, Holiday 0-3), New Orleans 6-30 (Graham 5-9, Hart 1-5, Alvarado 0-2, Clark 0-2, Jones 0-3, Temple 0-3, Alexander-Walker 0-5). Fouled Out_None. Rebounds_Indiana 42 (Brissett 9), New Orleans 45 (Valanciunas 12). Assists_Indiana 26 (LeVert 8), New Orleans 23 (Alexander-Walker, Graham, Valanciunas 6). Total Fouls_Indiana 28, New Orleans 22. A_15,581 (16,867)

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers: Washington and Levert score from long distance