It’s about time! The Washington Wizards were able to snap their six-game losing streak Saturday night as they edged out the Detroit Pistons 99-95. This was Washington’s first victory since February 9th against the Orlando Magic. Washington won the season series against Detroit this year 2-1, each team winning on their home floor.
John Wall led the way tonight as he scored 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting while dishing out six assists. Wall did struggle keeping possession of the ball as he turned the ball over five times, but as a team the Wizards only turned the ball over 12 times. The All-Star point guard was reunited with his backcourt mate Bradley Beal, who missed the past eight games with a stress reaction in his right leg. Beal was rusty shooting the ball as he went 2-of-10 from the field with eight points. However, his mere presence on the court was felt as he helped the team in a myriad of ways. Beal grabbed six rebounds while racking up five assists and recording three steals.
Paul Pierce also returned to the lineup after missing the last two games with a bruised right knee. Having Pierce back shored up the frontcourt and helped spread the floor for the offense to flow more free and easy. The veteran forward scored 14 points hitting 4-of-8 from behind the arc, while tallying up five assists and five rebounds.
The two players that really made the difference for Washington were the big men, Marcin Gortat and Nene. Gortat came away with a double-double by scoring 16 points and grabbing 17 rebounds. This is the fifth straight game Gortat has recorded double figure rebounds. The big Brazilian Nene came up huge tonight as he tallied 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting while grabbing seven rebounds. To round out the frontcourt production for the Wizards, Drew Gooden came off the bench with nine first half points. Gooden didn’t score in the second half but he remained active and gave his team important minutes.
Greg Monroe was the consistent force for the Pistons tonight. He finished the game recording his 29th double-double of the season scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Washington was able to contain the other bully on the block Andre Drummond to 13 points and nine rebounds. Once again Drummond struggled from the charity stripe going 3-of-10.
The only other double figure scorer for the Pistons was backup point guard Spencer Dinwiddie who scored a career-high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting while dishing out assists. Dinwiddie scored 13 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter. His impressive play kept newly acquired point guard Reggie Jackson on the bench in the fourth quarter, which ended the game with only nine points to go along with seven assists. Washington’s perimeter defense was also able to hold Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in check as went 2-of-8 from the field with only five points. Caldwell-Pope lit up the Wizards in the two previous meetings averaging 23 PPG while shooting 10-of-19 from behind the arc.
The Wizards started off great scoring 37 points in the first quarter, the most in any quarter this season, and ending the first half with a 16-point lead. It looked like Washington was going to run away with this game after they led by 21 points after going on a 7-0 run with 8:58 left in the third quarter.
Detroit began to chip away at the large deficit as they were down 10 after the third quarter ended. The Pistons would proceed to go on a 15-4 run in the fourth quarter to take an 85-84 lead with 6:46 left in regulation. Both teams would trade the lead a few times but with a little over 2 minutes left in play Nene would drive through the middle of lane and slam it home. That play seemed to put take the air out of Detroit and put Washington over the top.
This was by no means a perfect game by the Wizards but this was their best game in a long time. They shot the ball well from three (7-of-20), while remaining aggressive in the paint and getting to the free throw line (18-of-25). The return of Beal and Pierce made a huge difference, but by feeding Nene and Gortat throughout the night the offense excelled as they went inside-out while moving the ball with purpose. This victory could be the first step for the Wizards as they look to end the season on a high note while gaining a nice playoff seed in the Eastern Conference.
Washington’s next game is Tuesday night at 8:00 PM EST in Chicago to face the Bulls. The Pistons will have several days off as they face the New Orleans Pelicans on the road on Wednesday night at 8:00 PM EST.