John Wall led the Washington Wizards past the Charlotte Hornets Friday night in an overtime thriller 110-107. This was the fourth and final meeting of the regular season between these two teams. After losing the first two games the Wizards were able to regroup and win the final two.
Wall led the Wizards in scoring with 32 points on 12-of-30 shooting from the field, including nine rebounds, six assists and two steals in 48 minutes of play. This was his second consecutive 30-plus point game. Bradley Beal did play tonight as he left last game with a sprained ankle. Beal scored 16 points on 7-of-18 shooting with six rebounds and six assists.
The two players for Washington who really made a huge impact were Marcin Gortat and Drew Gooden. Gortat scored eight points, grabbed 16 rebounds, and blocked four shots in 44 minutes of play. Gooden came off the bench with a ton of energy as he scored 15 points and grabbed 17 rebounds. Gortat and Gooden accumulated five rebounds apiece on the offensive glass. Rasual Butler and Nene added 10 points apiece, and Ramon Sessions scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Al Jefferson was unstoppable tonight for Charlotte as he scored 31 points on 14-of-24 shooting while grabbing 10 rebounds in 40 minutes of play. Mo Williams continued to be a thorn in the Wizards side as he came off the bench with 26 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds. Williams was efficient from the field but he knocked down four three-pointers, and went 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Gerald Henderson and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist added 11 points apiece and 22 combined rebounds, while Kemba Walker scored nine points and dished out 10 assists.
John Wall showed tonight why he’s an All-Star. Wall tied the game at 96 with 3.3 seconds left in regulation on an elbow jumper. Washington had a 108-107 lead in the second overtime, and then Wall hit a pull-up jumper with 9.9 seconds left to give the Wizards a 110-107 lead. Washington was able to force two misses from behind the arc by Mo Williams and Al Jefferson to end their four-game losing streak.
Charlotte led Washington 95-91 with 14 seconds left in regulation. It was Rasual Butler who knocked down a three-pointer off an inbounds pass to cut the Hornets lead to one, 95-94. After Jeff Taylor went 1-of-2 from the free throw line, Wall would hit the mid-range jumper to tie the game and eventually force overtime.
Neither team shot the ball well from the floor. Charlotte went 36-of-104 for 34.6 percent, and Washington went 44-of-113 for 38.9 percent. Both team attempted 25 three-point attempts, but the Wizards would make nine as opposed to eight by the Hornets. The difference in this game was Washington’s ability to rebound the ball on both ends of the floor. The Wizards outrebounded the Hornets 72-61, including 17-to-10 on the offensive glass.
The Washington Wizards will remain at home and face the Houston Rockets on Sunday afternoon as 12:30 PM EST on ABC. The Charlotte Hornets will head home and face the Atlanta Hawks tomorrow night at 7:00 PM EST.