Derik Queen grew up in Baltimore, just 40 miles away from Capital Arena in Washington D.C.
The New Orleans Pelicans’ rookie made the most of his first trip back to his backyard.
Queen recorded his second triple-double as the Pelicans rolled to a 128-107 victory over the Washington Wizards to end a nine-game losing streak.
Queen finished with 14 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists. The rebounds and assists were career highs for Queen, who played at the University of Maryland.
“It means a lot,” Queen said. “I only come here once a year, so just being here and putting on a show. Hopefully it’s memorable. Just looking forward to next year also.”
Queen, who recorded his first triple-double in December against the San Antonio Spurs, is just the second rookie in franchise history to record two triple-doubles. He joins Chris Paul.
“Queen was fantastic,” said Pelicans’ interim head coach James Borrego. “Great energy. Big time performance on the glass. Shared the ball. Had a massive impact out there. Especially to do it here in front of his hometown was really special.”
Queen had plenty of help.
Trey Murphy and Zion Williamson combined for 66 points.
Murphy finished with 35 points and knocked down 7 of 16 3-pointers to go with eight rebounds. Williamson finished with 31 points, shooting 12 of 14 from the floor. He could have scored more, but missed six of his 13 free throws.
“Murph and Z are playing at a high level and they trust each other,” Borrego said. “We had a little two-man game going and they are taking on more leadership and responsibility there. I trust them. We trust them to make the right plays.”
The Pelicans (9-31) won for the first time since a Dec. 22 victory over the Dallas Mavericks. This latest win came against a team the Pels have had some recent success against. The Pels have now won their past five games against the Wizards (10-27) and six of their last seven.
Williamson and Murphy got off to fast starts, combining for 34 points in the first half to give the Pels a 60-50 lead at the break. The lead came despite the Pels committing 13 first-half turnovers. The Pelicans began pulling away in the third quarter.
“I thought there was more value on every possession,” Borrego said about the second half. “In the first half, there was not that and we were turning it over left and right, not valuing possessions and not getting to our spots and sloppy execution. I thought we flipped it there.”
Jeremiah Fears scored 21 points.
But the star of the night was Queen.
"I’m super proud of him,” Murphy said. “He’s been performing the whole year and it was nothing different than what he’s been doing.”