Wizards Hang On to Beat Bucks 106-101

The Washington Wizards came out fast and furious against the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night and ended up with a much-needed home victory, beating the visitor 106-101 and getting the team’s third straight win.

Fans saw the return of guard Bradley Beal from a 16 game, 33-day absence due to a stress reaction in his right leg. He entered the game to a roaring standing ovation from the entire arena and contributed a lot of energy to the win as well as 11 points in the 23 minutes he played. He was certainly happy to be back.

“It felt great to finally touch the floor and get back out with my teammates,” Beal said after the game. “That was awesome.”

Washington outscored the Bucks 29–18 in the first quarter and maintained a strong performance in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 56-43 lead.

Milwaukee dangerously picked up momentum in the third quarter, outscoring the Wizards 31–15. In fact, Milwaukee, once down by as much as 19 points, eventually stepped up to go on a 21-5 scoring run, emerging from the quarter with a small (72–71) lead over Washington.

Wizards fans began to worry.

In addition to the lead the Bucks had going, as soon as fans began to bask in the return of Beal, forward Otto Porter injured his hip coming down hard on a play. He left the game and was listed as ‘Questionable to Return.’

He never did get back to the court.

As the fourth quarter kicked off, Washington asserted their anticipatory prowess with a steal on the very first play and continued the relentless onslaught of steals. It paid off and the Wizards finished the game with 27 forced turnovers.

In the big scheme of things, Milwaukee did not play badly. The team had four players hit 19 points or more. But the turnovers proved to be too costly.

Washington’s All Star point guard John Wall led his team with 19 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Guard Ramon Sessions came in with the next highest amount of points with 15. Forward Jared Dudley logged 13 points, center Nene followed suit with 12; and guards Beal and Garret Temple tied for 11 points.

While Beal played a limited number of minutes so as not to put too much strain on his injured leg, his presence was positively felt by the team and the fans. His participation in the game absolutely helped to energize the atmosphere.

Washington was without two of its big men (Marcin Gortat and Kris Humphries) due to injury. However, Gortat may be able to play as early as this Saturday in the Wizards home game against the Boston Celtics.