Wizards get much needed victory.
The Washington Wizards held off a late rally from the Sacramento Kings to pick up a much-needed 121-115 victory at home. Bradley Beal shines for a second straight game as he was 1 assist and 1 rebound shy of a triple-double and snapped the Wizards out of a cold streak late in the game. Bobby Portis scored 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Trevor Ariza also added a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Tomas Satoransky was impressive on the night and did a little of everything, scoring 17 points to go along with seven assists and six rebounds. De’Aaron Fox led the Kings with 23 points. Nemanja Bjelica showed a strong performance recording his second consecutive double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Each team got hot at some point but with Washington catching fire in the third, they was able to deliver the knockout punch rattling off a 14-2 run orchestrated by Portis, Green, and Beal. The trio combined for 23 points in that quarter, and the Wizards assisted on 11 of their 12 field goals. However Sacramento went on a 17-5 run to briefly take a one-point lead in the fourth quarter. Washington couldn’t get any good looks down the stretch until Beal sealed the win with a contested layup in traffic to put the Wizards up by 6 with 51.8 seconds left. Washington continues its homestand Wednesday with its final meeting of the season with the Orlando Magic. After Monday’s win, Orlando is now 2.5 games ahead of the Wizards and in the No. 9 position in the East. Miami still holds a 3.5-game lead over Washington for the final playoff spot, while Charlotte is two games up in the No.10 spot. Next game is a must win!
