Wizards 115
Magic 114
March 5, 2017 – Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
On Friday following a loss to the Toronto Raptors, Scott Brooks said, “the one thing I know about our group, we're not going to give in” after Washington nearly pulled off a 19-point comeback. The same mentality applied today as the Wizards were down 17 late in the third quarter. On Sunday, Washington was able to complete their 11th double-digit comeback of the year and beat Orlando 115-114 despite leading for just 111 seconds, less than four percent, of the entire game. Despite playing just one possession of defense the entire game, according to head coach Scott Brooks who “chewed [out]” his team at halftime, the Wizards were able to get the job done.
1st quarter
On Friday, it was John Wall with the hot start with 16 points in the fourth quarter. Tonight was Bradley Beal’s turn as the shooting guard dropped nine points in the opening eight minutes. Washington D.C. held their collective breaths moments later as Magic wing Terrence Ross closed to far on Beal’s jumper attempt and the latter came down on Ross. Beal went to the locker room with a “mild left ankle sprain”, but thankfully he was ruled probable to return and got back on the court for his second shift.
With Marcin Gortat exiting just 5:14 into the game with two fouls due to banging with Biyombo he predicted pregame, the latter was able to grab eight boards in the first quarter alone. Orlando got 17 points from their front court of Biyombo and Aaron Gordan, which allowed Orlando to maintain a 28-25 lead at the end of one.
2nd quarter
What did Orlando eat for lunch? Whatever it was, it allowed them to start the game 7 of 12 from beyond the arc including a 3 of 3 start from Mario Hezonja off the bench. Almost inexplicably, Washington was down by 13, 42-29, early in the second quarter as the bench unit was struggling to score and everything was falling for the Magic. Brooks spent multiple timeouts during the stretch to try and get his team out of the mud.
The Wizards were able to cut the deficit to seven with three minutes to go in the half, but Orlando responded with an 11-2 run that gave the road team a 61-45 point edge at intermission. The 16-point difference was the most Washington has been down at halftime all season. The Wizards were down 7-1 in the three-point department in the quarter.
3rd quarter
If you thought the comeback was going to come in the third quarter, you were wrong. After the first five minutes of the frame, Washington put no dent in the Orlando 16-point lead. Verizon Center was moaning as they feared back-to-back losses at home was on the horizon for the first time this season. Brandon Jennings admitted his biggest fear was earning a reputation of the Wizards being winless since his acquisition.
There was a glimmer of hope midway through the quarter when Washington rattled off an 8-0 run in under two minutes behind back-to-back three-pointers from Bradley Beal and Bojan Bogdanovic, but that stretch would not last. Minutes later, Orlando responded with a 10-0 run to put the home team in a 17-point hole. Were it not for a mild 8-0 pushback from Washington near the end of the quarter to get the deficit down to 11 headed for the fourth quarter, … I do not even want to think about what might have happened to this team.
4th quarter
The comeback finally came.
Washington began the quarter on an 18-6 run to momentarily take a one point lead. Much of this was fueled by the Wizards bench and especially from Tomas Satoransky who was inserted into the rotation over Kelly Oubre. Satoransky played lock down defense on Hezonja, his former teammate at Barcelona, and also began the quarter with a quick five points: his seventh three-pointer of the season and a nifty baseline floater. Sato did his team proud on Czech Heritage Night.
The end of the game was bonkers as the crowd and team was bonkers for Bojan Bogdanovic. The Croatian Sensation, Bo Buckets, or whatever you want to call the trade deadline acquisition was en fuego in the final quarter. Bogdanovic played the entire final 18 minutes and made five three-pointers in the fourth including three in the final 3:22 including the game-winner with 47 seconds left.
The game ended with a wild sequence with John Wall partially blocking Aaron Gordon’s game-winning attempt at the buzzer and Washington escaped with a 115-114 victory.
#WizRaptors in a Tweet
The Game’s Top Performers
Bojan Bogdanovic – 27 points, 2 rebounds, 8 three-pointers
AND Bradley Beal – 32 points, 4 assists, 2 steals
Forget the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Washington Wizards have the real killer B’s. The two that are initialed B.B. on the team both played so well that we have to split the award tonight. Bogie was outright filthy setting a personal career-high as well as season-high for the Wizards and the NBA for a player off the bench with eight three-pointers. Beal, playing on a tweaked left ankle, was able to drop 30+ points for the 11th time this season, which he only did three times in his previous four seasons in the league.
A forgettable night for…
Markieff Morris
This is a weak selection because Morris was hobbled with a left thigh contusion, which probably explains why he did not have a rebound until the fourth quarter. Morris has been in a little bit of a rut lately shooting 24 of 64, 37.5 percent, in his past five games, but his physical defense has still been swell.
Key Stat of the Night
There are many to choose from, but let’s go with a non-obvious one. Washington shot 92 percent, 23 of 25, from the free throw line tonight, whereas Orlando missed seven on 12 of 19 from the charity line. Over the last five games, Bogdanovic is shooting 64.5 percent from three which is a higher rate than the Magic’s 63.2 percent from the line tonight. The Wizards have been notorious for leaving points at the line in the past, but tonight they flipped the script to complete a comeback.
What’s next?
Washington will embark on their first major road trip with a five-game stretch on the West Coast. The Wizards will play back to back against Phoenix and Denver and repeat the process with Sacramento and Portland before finishing up with Minnesota. The opponents are not too intimidating, but any four games in five-day stretch is tough.