John Wall carries Wizards past Hornets, 99-89

NEW ORLEANS — John Wall hardly seemed fazed by a trade that left the Wizards without their starting center and one of their top scorers.

The Washington reserves who had to step in didn’t shy away from their chance to show what they could do, either.

Wall had 26 points and 12 assists, and the Wizards won hours after making a multiplayer deal at the NBA trade deadline, 99-89 over the New Orleans Hornets on Thursday night.

“Today was a chaotic day,” Washington coach Randy Wittman said. “It is always tough losing teammates, but that is the nature of the business.

“Bottom line, somebody is going to get an opportunity,” Wittman added.

Roger Mason was one such player and scored 17 of his season-high 19 points in the second half to help theWizards snap a three-game skid and win for only the 10th time this season.

“Our guys found me and they made great passes,” Mason said. “I felt really good and was able to knock down some shots.”

Chris Kaman scored 20 points for the Hornets, who erased a 16-point deficit and took a brief lead in the fourth quarter, only to watch Mason hit three 3-pointers during Washington’s 13-0 run that put the game away.

“We used up so much energy to get back into the game and they hit a couple 3’s and got an easy one in transition,” Hornets coach Monty Williams said. “After that, you feel like you have to hit a home run to get back in it.”

Earlier in the day, the Wizards traded guard Nick Young and centers JaVale McGee and Ronny Turiaf to Denver as part of a three team deal. The Nuggets sent Nene to Washington, which also received forward Brian Cook along with a 2015 second-round pick from the Los Angeles Clippers.

McGee was replaced in the starting lineup by Kevin Seraphin, while Mason, who came in averaging only 3.6 points, picked up more minutes in Young’s absence.

For this game at least, Mason more than made up for Young’s 16.6 points per game, shooting 7 for 9, including 4 for 6 from 3-point range.

Seraphin had 12 points and nine rebounds in only his second start of the season. Jordan Crawford added 17 points and Trevor Booker 14.

Wall was all over the court, hitting 11 of his 16 shots, mostly on layups and dunks, including a couple of alley-oop jams.

“Everybody stepped up and we got a good team win,” Wall said. “Lately, we’ve been playing as a team and playing hard. When (we) do that, we give ourselves a chance.”

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