The Wizards led early against Sacramento, but ended up getting blown out in second game of Pacific Coast road trip.
Three days after snapping a six-game losing streak, the Wizards have started a new one. Washington got blown out by the Sacramento Kings, 143-131. Washington trailed by as many as 26 points in the second half and never had a chance after the first quarter. The loss drops Washington to 4-22 as they head to Portland then San Francisco to wrap up their first West Coast trip of the season.
Early on, the Wizards looked up to the task of facing the West’s 4-seed. They took a six-point lead in the opening quarter and led 31-27. But the Kings quickly took control of the game with a 22-8 run in the second quarter. De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis combined for 29 of Sacramento’s 39 points in that quarter.
It only got worse in the third quarter. Mike Brown and the Kings continually found soft spots in Washington’s defense with simple actions that they ran repeatedly. Sacramento scored 46 points and it didn’t look particularly hard. They scored 22 of those 3rd quarter points in the paint and ended the game with 64. Washington’s porous perimeter defense gave way as Daniel Gafford struggled with foul trouble.
Jordan Poole had an efficient night from the field. He scored 28 points on 10-of-18 shooting. He also seemed to be having a good time with Malik Monk as the two battled. We should all be glad someone is having fun. Kyle Kuzma poured in 27 points of his own and Bilal Coulibaly also reached double digits with 11 points. On the flip side, Sabonis registered his 34th career triple-double (28/11/12), Fox dropped 30, Keegan Murray had 25, and Harrison Barnes scored 19 points.
Washington’s defense may get a slight break against the 6-19 Portland Trailblazers on Tuesday at 10 pm EST. Happy Holidays!