Wall Dominates as the Wizards Sweep the Magic

The 15-16 Washington Wizards had four of their five starters in double figures in first their win of 2016 Saturday night at the Verizon Center as they beat the Orlando Magic 103-91. Point guard John Wall, with pep in his step and his 18th double-double; posted 24 points, 13 assists, two rebounds, two steals and one block to power over Orlando (19-14) for the third consecutive time this season. Wall wasn’t the only one with a pair of doubles; small forward Otto Porter had 20 points, 11 rebounds and his third straight game of scoring a season-high of 20 points per game. As well, Eastern Conference Player of the Week, center Marcin Gortat had 10 points and 14 rebounds which helped to extend Washington’s dominance over their division rival.

Washington’s other leading scorer’s shared 11 points apiece: guard Garrett Temple and forward Kris Humphries’. The latter played for thirteen minutes and scored seven of his 11 points in the fourth quarter with back-to-back three’s. Guard Ramon Sessions’ 13 points helped push the Wizards beyond a tie in the third quarter, with a 15-3 run in the fourth quarter for their New Years’ win.

On a roll with their 11th straight victory, the Wizards are also on a winning streak when it comes to Orlando.  The Magic hasn’t beaten the Wizards since March of 2013 and hasn’t beaten Washington at Verizon Center since February of 2012.

“This is a year-long thing.  This just isn’t this season,” Magic Head Coach Scott Skiles said. “I don’t know.  I don’t know if guys are intimidated by them. I have no idea.”

Orlando, owner of the second best record in the Southeast Division and a playoff contender, put up quite a steady effort against the Wizards. Magic guard Victor Oladipo led his team off the bench with 20 points and five assists. Center Nikola Vucevic had 14 points and seven rebounds; and forward Tobias Harris logged a double-double in 36 minutes with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Forward Evan Fournier had 11 points, two rebounds and three assists but all of it still wasn’t enough to end the Florida team’s second-longest losing streak.

“We have to realize that they’ve been punking us, really,” Oladipo said. “Until we get tired of them punking us, we’re never going to beat them.”

The Wizards may have brought the energy but they had to pick up the pace in the second half in order to win.  It was a tight game at that point with Washington leading by five points (48-43).  The Wizards held the Magic to just 43 points and 42 percent shooting going into the third. However, sloppiness set in on the Wizards and they blew their 12 point lead in the third quarter with the Magic going up by three (72-69) with one minute left. Washington was outscored by Orlando 29 to 14 then.  However, the Wizards’ Sessions hit a quick three with 40 seconds left in the quarter and tied up the score at 72.

The Wizards came alive in the fourth quarter and went on a roll with Wall driving his team to a 10-point lead with four minutes left in the game.  They went on the aforementioned 15-3 run in the fourth quarter with an incredible assist from Sessions (who had four assists on the night) to rookie forward Kelly Oubre Jr. under the basket and a jumper by Wall to put the Wizards back up by 10.  Oubre, who is stepping up defensively for the Wizards; played for 21 minutes and had seven points and five rebounds.

The Wizards hung on even after losing a 12-point lead and having been outscored by the Magic late in the fourth.  The home team was able to maintain its lead in the fourth quarter with Porter coming through even after Wall was triple-teamed for an easy basket to bring the lead to 101-89 with one minute left in the game.  Wall clinched the Wizards’ two-game losing streak with a jumper with 23 seconds left on the clock for the victory and a final score of 103-91.

Washington played a very physical game, out-rebounding the Magic 46 to 39 and is now 8-8 at home. Wall & Co. spread their game around defensively, stole the ball, matched intensity and created fast-break opportunities for themselves. There really wasn’t much Orlando could do to defend.

The Wizards will be tested in the next three games at home with some very tough teams.  They will need to find a way to maintain their defensive game with 11 of the 16 games in January at home.  They were successful in putting the Magic on the defense tonight but with upcoming games against the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Toronto Raptors, they may need to “defense-up” more… not much worries those teams and they tend to play with no fear.