Somehow, someway the Washington Wizards have avoided making embarrassing franchise history tonight. It was the showdown of two bad teams. They won 112-100 against the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday evening.
After a first half that was hard to watch and where the fans that were in attendance spent more time at the concession stand getting popcorn, the Wizards finished with a tenuous three-point lead, 48-45. Since they are less talented and want to win more than any NBA team, that gave fans a glimmer of hope that they would find a way to stop the bleeding on their most recent losing skid.
But in the third quarter, the Hornets got hot on the offensive end, shooting 52.2 percent from the field to head into the final frame with an eight-point advantage, 76-68.
The Wizards could have splintered in the fourth quarter, like they have done in the majority of their games in the early portion of this season. But instead, they turned over a new leaf, even if only for one night, and came back from a 10-point deficit and scored 44 points to close out the win.
Second overall pick, rookie Alex Sarr had 19 points and nine boards for the home team, who led throughout the fourth quarter. The Wizards (4-21) snapped a three-game losing streak in winning for just the second time in 21 games. There other victory came against a shorthanded Denver Nuggets team. Washington’s lack-luster start follows a franchise-worst 15-67 record a season ago.
Kyle Kuzma led the Wizards with 28 points overall, scoring 14 when it counted the most, in the fourth. Deni Avdija added 11 of his 18 in the fourth quarter and cleaned the glass with 14 rebounds. And Richaun Holmes had a double-double with 14 points and 11 boards.
LaMelo Ball, in his second game back in the lineup, had a game-high34 points and 13 dimes for Charlotte, which dropped their third game in a row, and for the 11th time in 12 games. Ball finished a pathetic 3 of 18 from 3-point range, a 16.7% mark that was his second-worst performance from distance this season. That sharply decreased his season percentage by more than a point, from 35.7% to 34.6%
Miles Bridges and Mark Williams added 16 points and eight rebounds each for the Hornets. Brandon Miller sat out with a left ankle sprain.
Miller was a late scratch despite going through Charlotte’s morning shootaround, giving the indication that his return will come sooner rather than later. The second-year guard out of Alabama had been on a heater as of late, scoring 20-plus points in 12 consecutive games before leaving the Hornets last contest early with 12 points against Paul George and the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday.
Washington’s next game is on Saturday against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Hornets travel to the ‘City of Brotherly Love’ to face Tyrese Maxey and the Philadelphia 76ers on the second night of a back-to-back on Friday.
