The Wizards Finish Their Six-Game Stretch of Home Games with a 106-102 Win Over the Hornets
The Wizards were able to finish their homestand with a narrow, 106-102, win over the Charlotte Hornets. Washington struggled to hold leads throughout the game but was able to close the game strong and hold on.
Bradley Beal is a player to watch for the near future as he left the game before the final buzzer with a quad injury. The Wizards were already without Monte Morris due to right ankle soreness.
Turnovers were still a major problem for the Wizards. Beal, Kuzma, and Porzingis struggled to handle the ball, accumulating 13 of the team’s 17 turnovers. Unseld’s troops have to limit these turnovers when playing against top teams in the league.
Shooting the ball has also not been up to par for the Wizards, shooting 43% from the field and 38% from deep. It was a huge problem for Porzingis, who shot 21% on 19 shots from the field. He only racked up 12 points on the night.
However, shooting was not so much of a problem for Kyle Kuzma and Bradley Beal. They both shot over 50% from the field, with Kuz scoring a team-high 28 points, and Beal putting up 26 for himself.
Despite a rough night offensively for Porzingis, he had a huge night defensively. The Latvian 7-footer blocked 5 shots and brought in 8 rebounds. However, Deni Avdija was the main man on the glass, bringing in a team-high 13 rebounds.
The rookie guard, Johnny Davis, who struggled in the preseason and hasn’t seen many minutes so far, was able to get on the court for about 5 minutes. Unfortunately, Davis went 0-for-1 from the field and picked up 1 personal foul.
Charlotte struggled to get one player going, having Kelly Oubre Jr. score a team-high 23 points. Gordon Hayward wasn’t far behind with 20 points himself.
The Hornet’s starters were a total collapse defensively, having only one player with a positive plus-minus rating.
Washington is now 10-7 and sits 6th in the East. They will hit the road for a trip to Miami where they play on Wednesday and Friday. Tip-off for Wednesday’s game is at 7:30 pm EST.
