The Washington Wizards had the crowd going from tipoff. They were unstoppable against the San Antonio Spurs and, thanks to shooting guard Bradley Beal’s last minute heroics, they came away with a at home, 102-99.
Early in the first quarter the Wizards answered all of the critics from the weekend’s disappointing loss against the New York Knicks by grabbing a quick lead over the Spurs 19-2, shooting eight of nine from the field at the outset. The run wouldn’t last long however… the Spurs came right back to take the lead by one point at the end of the quarter, bringing it to 23-22.
While San Antonio was beginning to take control, it was Wizards small forward Otto Porter who kept up the running game, scoring nine points of his 19 points in the second quarter to help keep the gap close against the Spurs going into halftime.
By that point, the Wizards were just down by four points and that was because Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard had been effective in keeping Porter on his toes, scoring 18 of his team’s 23 points by the half.
It didn’t take the Wizards long to realize that they needed to step up their game defensively.
Placing power forward Nene in strategically throughout the night proved to be quite effective. He and center Marcin Gortat were masterful; running and gunning all night with Gortat scoring 10 points, eight rebounds and providing a block. They both must continue to deal with finishing up in traffic under the basket better however. And they cannot turn the ball over in fast breaks. Despite this, it was a solid showing.
For most of the game point guard John Wall didn’t score. Going into the second half, he had put up just four points and 11 assists. However, he turned up the heat (mostly in the fourth quarter where he, added 17 points and 13 assists) ending the matchup with a career high of 18 assists; his best performance so far.
The Wizards faced three ties in the fourth quarter alone. Even though San Antonio’s Tony Parker sank a three-pointer to tie the game at 99 with just seven seconds left in the game, the night really belonged to Beal.
There at the end, the Wizards took two timeouts. With a second left in the game, Wall popped the ball to the right to Beal as Gortat set up a screen. Unfortunately, the fourth-year shooting guard still had to get Spurs center LaMarcus Aldridge — the best big man in the game — out of position. Beal cut to the left, dribbled and then slid one by Aldridge for the winning three-point shot over a late lunge-move by the big man.
“Everything was in rhythm and it felt naturally good to me,” Beal said after the game. “That shot felt the best.”
Aldridge later admitted that Beal got him, saying: “It was a late read…I tried to get out there and he made a good jab and made the shot.”
The Spurs finished up the night with 20 turnovers while the Wizards had 10.
Beal finished up the contest with 25 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals.
The Wizards, now 3–1, are on the road the next several days. They take on the Boston Celtics at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Atlanta to play the Hawks Saturday night.