The Washington Wizards bounced back from a loss to the Cavaliers, taking down the Hornets 118-104 after Porzingis tied his career-high, 8 3-pointers.
The Wizards were without Monte Morris and again, without Kuzma. However, Kuzma has been upgraded to ‘day-to-day’ so he should be back on the court soon.
Bradley Beal, though, did return to the court after missing a couple of games with a foot injury. In his return, he boomed for a 17-point and 10-assist double-double. Those 10 assists were the most in a single game Brad has dished out this season. And while struggling from deep, shooting 1-5, he was efficient from inside the perimeter, finishing the night 7-15 from the field.
The other Wizard to record a double-double was Deni Avdija, who found himself in the starting 5 due to Kuzma’s absence. Avdija scored 20 points on 61% shooting and snatched a team-high 13 rebounds.
You would have expected Porzingis, who is 7 feet tall, to bring in the most rebounds. However, the Latvian giant was too busy scoring. Porzingis netted 36 points, only 5 points shy of his single-game career high, and brought in 9 rebounds. The story, though, was the fact that Porzingis hit 8 shots from beyond the arc!
Washington shot 40% from deep in the win against the Hornets, a huge improvement from the 21% they shot from such range in the loss to the Cavaliers. The guy to look at for this improvement was Porzingis, who went 1-6 vs the Cavs and 8-14 against the Hornets.
For playmaking, Delon Wright also eclipsed a season-high 10 assists with Brad last night. Delon fit perfectly into Morris’, who is usually also spreading the ball out.
Another big reason the Wizards were able to end their losing skid was that their defense was much better. Lamelo Ball was kept quiet with 16 points and 6 assists, and only P.J. Washington was able to reach the 20-point mark for Charlotte.
Washington moved to 25-29 with the win. Their next game isn’t until Saturday, when they will host Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm EST.
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